Make Sure You are Carrying the Right ID

I remember the day I realized I was getting a divorce. "I can't get another divorce...not again," I thought. Instantly, I had flashbacks to the aftermath of my first divorce. I was not ready to be relegated back to eating at the table of failure and wearing the crown of shame. As the memories twirled around me, suddenly I heard a voice that said, " look up". I looked up above my circumstances and looked into the eyes of my Heavenly Father.

He said, I so love you (John 15:9) and you are My child (Romans 8:16). You have been sanctified (John 17:17), justified, and glorified (Romans 8:30). You are not under the law but under My grace (Romans 6:14) and you are My precious precious child (Romans 8:16).

I saw that I had a choice of two paths, one of lies and oppression or one of truth and my Father would be there to walk it out with me -- holding my hand tightly. I realized that my reality was changing but my identity in Him could not be shaken.

Am I saying God likes divorce? Nope I am not...divorce equals division and this is not a part of the character of God...He is a God of multiplication. What I am saying is that my actions do not change the view God has of me. He loves me...I am his absolute favorite forever!

We must carry this revelation in our hearts as we face the future. Walking through divorce is difficult but with our faithful Father loving on us...our broken hearts and wounds are healed completely. Do not allow others to put their religious ideologies upon you but look to your Daddy in heaven. Look deep into His eyes...He so adores you and he is inviting you to eat at His table wearing a crown of hope.

Save you!

Recently, my daughter said to me, "Mommy, if anyone tried to hurt you...I would give my life to save you." After trying to recapture my composure, I reassured her that I felt we both were safe. Then I said, "if anyone tried to hurt you...I would give my life to save you!"

A few minutes later, she said, "I don't think my father would give his life to save me...."

OK seriously, what do you say to that kind of statement? I hope she is wrong...but I don't have any real substantial evidence to prove her wrong....

A few days later, I got the answer!

I reminded her what she had said about her father. I said, " Actually Kiera, your Heavenly Father died for you and me on the cross and rose again"....and because He did this for us...we have:

Forgiveness, Right Standing with God, Complete Acceptance, Financial Abundance, Healing, Blessings, Life, and we share in His glory.

He gave His life so that we would have life...He saved you!

Leaving a Legacy

This May my daughter Olivia would have been 10 years old. Her sweet life still impacts me today. When I was pregnant with her, I had been to the doctor during my first trimester and all was well. During my second trimester as I laid in the doctor's office having the longest sonogram on the planet. The doctor came in and told me he had scheduled me for a level two sonogram. What in the world was he talking about?

I was in a bit of a daze after that...I went to my level two sonogram and received devastating news. My daughter had a tumor on her chest and her heart and lungs would be unable to grow correctly. She would not be able to sustain life once she was born.

I was stunned and angry.

I went through the nine months of pregnancy, I remember driving to the hospital to have her and feeling like I was living a paradox. I was giving birth which equaled life but for Olivia it meant death. Olivia was born and lived for two hours. She was a beautiful beautiful baby.

When I went for my six week check up, I was still trying to understand the last nine months of my life. I was talking with the nurse and said, "I just don't understand why Olivia had to die - what was the purpose?" The nurse turned and looked at me and said, "She came to change your life." Those words cut to my heart.

She did change my life...she change everything. Just like Jesus, He came to change our lives. His ministry, death, and resurrection left a powerful legacy that touches us today. I think that is what life is about to live your life in such a ways that it emulates truth that leads back to God. Olivia grasped life and ran her race hard. She changed the landscape of my life. She left a powerful legacy.

Olivia Adrian Middleton

May 25, 1999

Catch the Vision

One Sunday, my daughter and I are driving to church. She turns to me in a serious tone and says, "Mom, we have to get an airplane and fill it up with Bibles and drop them out of the plane over Mexico. And they will say its raining Bibles. We have to go to every state and tell them what we are doing so they can help us."

I loved it! My child was casting vision. We discussed how we could do it. I told her we could not go to all the states now but maybe we could write a letter and send it out...asking for Bibles. I also had to tell her we would probably not be able to get a plane but maybe we could mail the Bibles to Mexico. Although we both agreed it would be cool for it to rain Bibles in Mexico!

My daughter and I wrote a letter and sent it out to family and friends. Kiera collected over 50 Bibles. It was very exciting! Our church sent the Bibles to Mexico.

The point of this post is to really to encourage parents to listen to your children and if they cast vision to help others -- catch it. God is speaking to our children and we need to honor that everyone can be used to further the kingdom.

Full of Sparkle

As a infant and toddler, my daughter went by the nickname, Kiki. On her fifth birthday, after blowing out the candles on her cake, she declared that she wanted to be called Kiera - her given name.

Since Kindergarten would be starting in a few weeks I said that would be a good time to make the name change. I wanted to make sure she was really serious about going by Kiera, so about a week before school started I checked in with her again about the name change.

Me: What do you want your friends to call you at school?
Kiera: Kiera
Me: Are you sure?
Kiera: Well, they could call me Princess Sparkle!

Today is the Day

When Kiera's father Eric left, I told her that he had problems in his heart that he had to get fixed with God. A few years ago, he briefly came back into her life for a few months, he echoed the same words, "he was getting his heart fixed with God."

The Lord has been impressing on my heart for several months that in 2009 I would need to tell Kiera the "rest of the story". I had two people tell me in 2008 she was ready...but I was not ready. I knew my resistance was fear and control manifesting...YUCK! So I prayed and resolved that I would be obedient.

I asked God for the words and He reminded me of a letter that Eric had written to her explaining everything...while it is a painful letter... he explained his drug addiction and recent incarceration but he pointed back to God and how we must keep our eyes on Him or we go astray as he has done.....

On 01/11/09 I felt God say today is the day! I told Kiera that I wanted to talk with her but wanted to pray first...I wanted the Holy Spirit there with me! After praying, I read the letter and Kiera was stunned initially and then she said we must pray for him and we can even ask our church to pray for him. We talked a bit more, prayed, and she cried. About, an hour later Kiera came to me and said, "I am suppose to rip the letter up, forget about the letter and leave it in the past - let go." (I had mixed feelings about this...but felt I was to honor her) I told her OK...she got the letter and RIPPED it up! Immediately, she said, "Mom, I am vibrating - is that joy?" I said yes it is...she shook with the joy of the Lord for a few hours...crying out to the Lord for her father and praying in tongues. Ripping up that letter and leaving it in the past, letting it go... brought the sweet glory of our precious Father. The Lord is so sweet and has comforted her more than I ever could have! Thank you Lord Jesus for being so faithful to us - we love you!

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:18

Merry Christmas

The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide:

A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger."

At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises: Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him. Luke 2:9 -14

Relevant

I am reading a book by Chuck Pierce -- Interpreting the Times (FABULOUS book!)

Pierce writes about Matthew 11:12 -- And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. He goes on to explain that FORCE is a word that denotes power, strength, and straining. Here are ten strands that better explain the concept that Jesus was attempting to bring forth through the ages:

He will have a people filled with strength.
He will have a people who gain momentum
He will have a people of accurate moral reason and judgement.
He will have a people of violence.
He will have a people of virtue.
He will have a people who have the power to bind and loose.
He will have a people of destiny.
He will have a people who move like a raging storm in the earth
He will have a people, who like Jesus, fulfill the law without being confined to the law of the earth.
He will have a people filled with strength and power for war.

(This is all found on pages 135-137.)

I thought this was so relevant to us. I think we all represent different strands of the FORCE. We all have different giftings and God uses those all together. I remember a couple of years ago, a friend was venting about the "mundane parts" of life...which I never articulated myself BUT SO IDENTIFIED with this person...the wiping of snotty noses, the making of the peanut butter sandwiches day in and day out, etc....

I think the above revelation cracks that our life is mundane framework...nothing is for waste...whether we are pouring into our children or praying with a friend about global issues. WE ARE RELEVANT in the kingdom and we are part of that force! I don't think we have to be in Washington DC to be a part of the the Force! Please know y'all are powerful in the kingdom...world changers and you don't even have to leave the city limits!

Slavery

I recently took my daughter to see a movie...just relaxing ...hanging out with my daughter...standing in line for the tickets....when she turns to me and says, "Mom, if there were slaves today...would I be one?"

This is not the only painful and difficult questions she has asked me in the past few months about race. We were at Target a few months ago and I asked her if she wanted a pair of Converse shoes. She answered, "only white girls can wear those." I was horrified. I asked her where she got that idealogy (OK I did not use that word!). I explained to her that the color of her skin does not determine what you can and can not wear, can be, or where you go. I told her that as God's daughter she sets the standard -- she has the freedom.

Later after the movie (which had nothing to do with slavery by the way) she explains to me...if she had been a slave what she would have said to the white people, "I would have said look we are the same, look we have both have brains, two eyes and two ears and two hands and two feet -- the only difference is we have different color skin." I told she was exactly right....

Then she asks, " would they have whipped me because I said that... "

I do not like having to reveal the painful and shameful history to her and I never expected to be having this chat when she was seven. Kiera and I talk about American history but I always come back to her true identity...which is as God's daughter.

A few friends who had knew about this conversation gave the following prophetic words about Kiera:

She is going to be a world-changer...The revelation that God is giving Keira is right. He is helping her think through this foundational truth in a way that is personal to her. She has dark skin, so she can empathize with that. God is setting a Kingdom world view deep in her spirit. At some point she will realize that He is talking to her about her. His love story for Kiera. Her birth into slavery and the war He declared on her captors who enslaved her. The truth, that He fought for her to the death with everything He had, everything He was - holding nothing back because He loves her so much. When she gets this, it will cause her to fall deeply and madly in love with Him. Then she will pick up the sword and begin to fight - from her love, for her lover. She will declare war for the freedom of others. She will pick up the sword and fight to set others free. It is her calling, her destiny, and the song in her heart. I can see that warrior/overcoming spirit on Keira. It is her destiny, just like her mama’s. She is called to fight, but first God is causing her to love. He is revealing His broken heart for those who are not free so she can be a passionate fighter. You can’t be a passionate fighter without a heart that can feel and know love.

Once she gets that, she can be truly free no matter what external bondage holds her – just like Paul in prison. And, she can lead others to freedom.

Hollywood Bound

My daughter told me recently, that when she grows up and gets married....she is moving to Hollywood and becoming famous. I believe her. Something about her tone and it just seems so possible. We talk about what she will do in Hollywood, sing, dance, model, act, emulate God's light and love.....

One day as we talked, we stopped at a local mini mart to buy some drinks...we were so thirsty. I got the drinks as she browsed the store. As I was paying, she runs up to me with a horrified look on her face and hands me a pornographic magazine. I grabbed the magazine from her and threw it on the counter and demanded to know why this trash was out for a minor child to see. The clerk looked stunned. I reminded the clerk that I could call the police and have him ticketed for this violation. At this point, the clerk is mumbling some excuse...I did not listen but just headed out the front door. (Maybe I should have done more but I just wanted to get my child out of there and I could tell she was reeling.)

As we sat in our car in the front of the store, Kiera says in the most concerned worried voice, "Mom, that lady's picture is on that magazine and her boob is showing and she doesn't know it."

This is one of those moments I hope will never happen but I know that my daughter will eventually learn the evilness that attempts to lurk in the world. So I gently tell her that the women knows her picture is on the front of the magazine and that her boob is showing. I said there are some people in the world that have such broken hearts -- that they make choices that hurt them. I can see her processing the incident and all this new information.

Suddenly she says, "you mean her boss ask her to take that picture?" In which I answered, "yes." Kiera in the most authoritative voice says, "well Mom if my boss ever asks me to take a picture like that...I will tell him that I will have to quit this job!"

That evening when Kiera went to bed, she asked again about the lady on the magazine. She said I just feel so sad for her. We decided to pray for her.