Monday, May 23, 2011

May 23 - 27, 2011

Good evening Friends,

What an awesome weekend Papa God lavished on us! His goodness as someone once said, " Keeps gettin' gooder and gooder!" :) He is just beyond all I can think or imagine! Just take a look at nature itself! His wonders never cease to amaze me! Everyday, I find something else that shows me more of who He is and I can't help but fall in love with Him all over again!

This is actually my last week in Redding, CA. :(  It has been an amazing, wonderful journey! Living the kingdom life really is "joy unspeakable and full of glory!" Things I've been exposed to, and have been a part of, things I've seen and heard have just increased my faith, my understanding, and have broaden my perspective in Whom my heavenly Father really is! To know Him is to love Him! "Papa, thank You for making this part of heaven available to me! My life is forever changed and I'll never be the same! I love You Papa God and look forward to our next adventure together!"

The next few days are going to be quite busy since we're helping with the Bethel School of Supernatural Creativity! We're excited to have our very own Theresa Dedmon  who'll be opening the sessions and sharing how to "Release Healing and the Prophetic Through Supernatural Art"  Patricia King will be encouraging us on ways to " Discover Our Creative Supernatural Destiny. Shawn Bolz will be "Releasing Us (the Church) to find our Creative Voice!" And guest speaker Ray Hughes will empower us to "Shift Culture and Transform Global Missions!"

We're all so excited to be a partnering with Papa God in transforming the world of art whether it be, music, drama, film, photography, writing, painting, sculpting, fashion, culinary arts and the list goes on!  There will be lots of activation and workshops going on to help equip all those who have a desire to get as much as you can get! We encourage you to come and jump in! There is a river of supernatural ability that flows here so if you have even the smallest unction that you would like to try something come and see! The water really is fine and this is such a safe place to explore all the deep things in you that you haven't discovered yet! Come on! You'll be so glad you did!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Thursday, May19, 2011

Good morning, Friends and Neighbors!

It has been an absolutely gorgeous day in Redding CA.
Lots of sunshine, clear skies and mild temperatures beckoned everyone to enjoy the great outdoors so I did! Spent some time in the Word, answered some emails, calls, text messages and facebook requests, whew, got some sun, read a few pages in a new book I just started, then went for a long walk at the beautiful Lema Ranch!

Since I didn't get to share with you yesterday, I want to take you on an adventure I went on with some friends to Burney Falls! I believe I can speak for us all and tell you it was just breath-taking!


This is just one of the sights that took our breath!
There's more!



Ok! See these tall trees? Well get ready! I'm going to take you on one of the trails nestled deep in this amazing enchanted forest! Come, on! Let's go!


This was our starting point!




This is one of the nicer trails we started out on which led us to....


which was part of ....





Isn't this just amazing?




and just as you thought it couldn't get any better....



I kept waiting for a little fairy or maybe a gnome to reveal themselves... :)



and just a few more...




Yes, it is a huge dogwood flower...




and there's so much more but I don't want to bore you...




I hope this inspires you the next time you're out and about to take a trek to Burney Falls which is just about an hour northeast of Redding CA. Or, if you're not close by maybe find out what your area has to offer that you've never seen before and go discover what adventures you could stumble upon! I'd love to hear about them! Have fun and enjoy this Big, beautiful world our Lord has made!


Wednesday, May 18, 2011

May 24 Bethel School of Supernatural Creativity

Bethel School of Supernatural Creativityhttp://www.ibethel.org/events/2011/02/bethel-school-ofsupernatural-creativity-redding-ca

You are invited on an adventure where the supernatural power of God and creativity converge. We are headed for a Kingdom Renaissance, where all believers can embrace the creative power of God for personal, church, and worldwide transformation. You will receive impartation to go to the next level from world class speakers, be trained daily in a variety of 17 workshops, which you can choose from like Kingdom dance, drama, film, fine arts, photography, music, writing, fashion, and culinary arts. These workshops are for those who are gifted as well as beginners. There will also be "supernatural creative stations" throughout our time together, where you can see firsthand, how healing and the prophetic power of God's creativity can transform your life. Discover your destiny in what you alone can create supernaturally, so register on line today!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Good morning, Friends!

I'd like to thank all of you who have taken time to visit me here on "Back Porch Adventures!" since it was launched this Sunday, May 15, 2011! I have had a wonderful response from you all and the words of encouragement are just a blessing! Hmmm, I wonder who's getting blessed more? You or me?

It's so exciting to see how life in the Kingdom of God brings us all together in many different ways and how each one of us really do have something to offer! Papa is all about blessing us in every area of our lives and even though He sometimes uses a supernatural means to do so, I've learned He'll probably use my neighbor, someone at work, my daughter or even something as unexpected as a rose, a painting or even a donkey to bless me! He is God! And He's definitely not limited in creative expression! Don't you just love that about Him? I do! I want to be just like Him when I grow up!! :)

This morning as I was reflecting and giving the Lord thanks for the privelege and honor to have lived here in Redding CA, and attend Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, I saw this picture of a field that had been plowed, cultivated and sown with seeds superior to all others in quality. I don't really have a full idea at this time all that this crop is going to produce however, these seeds have a promise attached to them. Isaiah 55:11 states,

It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
These seeds have been guaranteed to produce 30, 60 and 100 fold! I saw some of these seeds as plants already coming up and having the buds of the fruit hanging on them. Others were barely out of the ground and still others haven't even broken the soil yet, however, I know these too will prosper.

What I feel this picture is revealing is all that's been sown into our spirits this year is still being processed. The truths, the principles, and the wisdom in how to apply it all is being nurtured and developed by Holy Spirit. And as there is a demand for something Holy Spirit will recall it to our rememberance and it will sprout up or already be in place ready and ripe for us to pluck and serve! I believe this will be a timeless crop as this has not only been sown into our present but also our future for we will not be the only ones that benefit but also those after us.

To my fellow students of BSSM, if there is a small chance you feel you may not have received all you think you wanted to this year, I share this with you to be encouraged! I believe this picture is an illustration of what is happening in us right now even tho we may not see or feel anything to prove it to our natural senses. There has to be time for the seed to germinate! I believe as we continue to walk in faith believing, exercising and stewarding what we have, as there comes a demand for something Holy Spirit will rise up within us and we will have the Word that's needed for that time!

So I just release to you a spirit of power and sound mind in knowing you have received more than you know! And as you walk out your faith and take those risks I remind you that you are equipped with everything needed for the time it's demanded. Christ has given you every spiritual blessing! You are an heir of God and all He has is yours! Run in your destiny releasing His Presence so that the kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of our God!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Monday, May 16, 2011

Have you ever had the Lord test you to see if you would do what you said you would do? You know, "Lord, I'll do anything, go anywhere I just have to have more of You!" That kind of thing? Well, about a year ago this week, actually, the Lord asked me, "Did you really mean it? Did you really mean you would go anywhere and do anything?" I thought about it for a long while and asked myself, "Did I mean it? Would I leave  my husband, (if he couldn't come with me) would I leave my family, my children and grandchildren and friends? Would I leave everything I know everything I'm familiar with...the comforts of home, my career, would I risk the possibility of my granchildren forgetting me while I'm gone? Would I?" I really pondered these things before I responded and after deep consideration I answered, "Yes, Lord! I'll go anywhere and I'll do anything You ask me to as long as I get to have more of YOU!"

Well, He gave me the test! He asked me to go to Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, California! So I said "Alright, if You'll tell my husband and work it out with him so he asks me, and provide all the provisions I need then I'll go because I don't know how to ask him if I can go and I don't know how I can pay for this!" A week went by and then the next week came around and one day coming back from lunch my husband and I were together heading back to the office as was our daily routine. We both were kind of quiet that day and my husband out of the blue asked, "Alright, what have we got to do to get you there?" I was looking out of the passenger's side window and turned to him and asked "What? What do you mean?" and he asked me, "Don't you want to go to Bethel School? Doesn't Bethel have some sort of school?" I know I had to be looking at him quite dumbfounded, because we had never discussed it! I had never said anything about going or even telling him about it other than one day he had walked in the office where I was and asked me what I was looking at online. This day I happened to be looking at Bethel's School website but I didn't go in detail nor did I mention it again!

So, after picking my jaw up out of my lap, I was able to regain my thoughts and something just rose up in me and I answered, "Yes!" Yes, I do want to go!" This was so unlike me. Usually, in the past, and even if it was something I wanted to do I would push it down and not wanting to be a bother to anyone I would say, "Nah, that's ok!" But not this time! It was like something just roared out of me! "YES!" I want to go!" My husband told me that I should go ahead and apply that day if I wanted to go so I did!

Then I heard the Lord say, "Now, write down what you'll need and make a list of the things you need to do!" This was the first time in my life I can ever remember the Lord being so specific and very definitive about something. So, after I applied online to BSSM, I immediately began calculating the finances I would need not only for the school but for living expenses as well. Then I offered this list and the list of things I had to do to the Lord and thanked Him for the provisions, favor, wisdom and strength to get everything accomplished before I was to leave in September if I was accepted.

Two weeks later, I received a word of congratulations that I had been accepted to Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry! Wow! This was like a dream! Was I dreaming? Was this real? Was this actually happening? Was I really going to California? By this time, I had already gotten some of my "list to do" done because I believed this was part of my faith walk doing what I knew to do until I heard differently. So, now that I had been accepted, I just kicked it up a notch working day and late nights to get everything done!  Included on this "list to do" was list and sell 4 of our personal properties (1 was my daughter and son's house and another was the one we were living in)! Not only did all 4 properties sell but all of the "little things" that had to be done was completed along with moving my husband and his brother who lives with us to one of our rental properties! Now, you have to understand, this was when the market was considered to be slow and our house we were living in was in the top of the price range that was even being sold at that time. There were eleven houses in that neighborhood on the market and seven of them were on our street!

May 25 or 27, 2010, was when I applied, June 12 or 15th I got accepted, then September 1, 2010, my amazing husband rode across America with me to see this place we had never heard of or seen before; this place I would call "home" for the next 9 months of my life!

I had no idea what Papa God had in store for me! This has been such an amazing journey!  I have been so blessed and enriched, empowered and so radically changed that I'll never be the same! I have gone from one glory to another and I know there's even more to come!

Today, I begin the next phase of another glory level! Today, I graduated BSSM! Today, is the beginning of another chapter of another awesome journey I will take with Papa! When I answered His call I had no idea where He would lead me. All I knew was like the disciples, were called they left their duties to follow this Man whom they didn't know and had never seen but yet they felt safe and felt they could trust Him to lead them anywhere and keep them along the way. I too, have found Him to be a safe place. One I can trust to lead me and keep me. He has proven this to me and my family! He has provided and done more than I even asked for and it has been more than I ever dreamed it would be! This has been a year of seeing and living heaven on earth and yes, I did get more of Him, however, I'm still just as hungry and thirsty for more as I was when I came. And yes, I will go to the ends of the earth to get more if that's what He asks me to do! Honey, are you ready? :)

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Books That I've Enjoyed!


This is a book that will encourage you to Dream with Your Creator!
Holy Spirit divinely intervened an adventure I was on at an Ollie's Store in
New York 2yrs. ago! I had never heard of this author and had no idea
 what he believed so I was a little skeptical in buying it. However, I had been crying out
to God that I wanted more and I felt I was stuck in a place thinking "surely this isn't everything!"
And glory to God it wasn't! After 3 times passing it on the shelf it was as if this book was coming
off of it at me so I finally gave in and bought it! Thank You Holy Spirit! Little did I know where this journey would take me! 


Welcome!

Good Afternoon everyone!

Welcome to "Back Porch Adventures!" I got this idea about a year ago when I was on my back porch spending time with Papa God! These were some awesome times as I would spend hours there soaking up His Presence and sitting at His feet receiving my daily bread from the rhema Word He would speak to me. These times were precious to me and my life has never been the same.

So, I got to thinking about different ways I could be a blessing and share this abundant life He's so richly blessed me with and this "blogging thing" was one of many I thought I could do! I see this as an informal gathering just as if you were visiting me on my back porch enjoying a hot cup of tea or coffee and delightful pastries as we share living life together! I look forward to sharing insights in the Word of God, thoughts to enrich our relationships, how to be a blessing to our community, business ideas, recovering the arts for the Kingdom of God, as well as some other things I enjoy such as fishing, boating, gardening and my favorite books just to name a few!

My heart's desire is that these adventures inspire and create a hunger in you to venture out and explore every area in life that you want to! I want you to know that you don't have to join the army to "be all you can be!" Papa God formed you with a desire in you to explore, to create to do the things you've probably been thinking are way out there and off the wall! He formed you after His likeness and it makes Him so happy to see His children going after everything in life they want to go after because He's created it all for us to explore and discover!

I love the book of Romans as it talks about this wonderful life of freedom our Father has made available thru Jesus and in this life we're only limited by our own mindsets. If you've been born again, the Son has made you free to be all He's created you to be! You may be thinking, "But I always thought that being a christian meant there are certain things I can't do!" Religion has tried to suffocate the very life out of us that He has so freely given by placing demands and restrictions on us that was never His idea! Now this doesn't mean that we go out and do harmful things to ourself or our neighbor and if we're in relationship with Jesus that won't be in us to do anyway. But think about this, there may be some of you who love movies! You watch a good movie, it inspires you to do something good for someone or you begin to dream about a wonderful idea that you think would make a great movie but because you're a christian and you've been told that movies are sinful and theaters aren't places where christians go you put away that idea because you think it's wrong. Let's just think about that a minute....if God is Creator, who created the whole idea of movies anyway? Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying every movie is good to watch because there are some perverse things out there but there had to be an original idea for the enemy to be able to pervert it because that's what he does! He doesn't have the ability to create. He just takes something Papa God made twists and perverts it to try to change its origin, but he can't do it! He doesn't have that power or authority! He can only mangle it so it's not easy to see where it originated from but if you trace its roots and beginnings you'll be able to see that it came from the Father's heart!  So, what if, the intent Father had for the entertainment industry was just what I hope this blog will be, something to point people to Him and His goodness?  Something to inspire us to dream with Him? What if?

I encourage you to be free to be everything Papa God has created you to be! If you want to write screen plays ask Papa what's on His heart for you to write and start writing!  If you want to paint or create an art piece go for it! Get alone with Papa God and ask Him to show you how to partner with Him in bringing heaven to earth where you are and in what you can do or even what you want to learn to do! Remember, He's the Master Creator. He has the ability and understanding of showing you how since He knows you and how you learn best! Go ahead! Ask Him! Dream with Him! Dream Big! He's a big God with BIG ideas in mind for you!

I would love to hear any ideas He gives you if you'd like to share!