Risk the Ocean of Grace

Dear Friends,

               Excuse
my imperfect grammar and overly using ……..! That’s how information is processed
in my head…with sudden pauses! lol I pray that you get encouraged by my letter
to you.

               Today I
woke up talking to God..telling him that I give up the things I can’t control
and telling Him that I want to serve Him with my whole heart. I walked to the
laundry mat from our house and the moment I walked in I heard a woman speaking.
I felt the hurt in her voice and instantly knew God wanted to talk to her. So I
stopped at the door and waited for a YES from God to go pray for her. I felt a
YES and walked up to her and felt my heart become doubtful! I was nervous and
did not let the Holy Spirit initiate the conversation….She did not want me to
pray for her. I told her nicely to have a good day and walked off. I couldn’t believe
prayer was rejected! That was a first for me and would hear the AIM
participants get rejected but never knew how they really felt! While I waited
for my clothes to dry, I wrote to God telling Him how upset I was. I told him
that I was embarrassed and to forgive me because I didn’t let Him work. After
praying this morning…I felt I failed GOD! I prayed for forgiveness and accepted
Grace.

               Later that
day I spent time with my wonderful sister in Christ, Tiffany Brand. We swam in
Lake Michigan. The water was so COLD! We slowly walked up to the shore and
braced the chilled clear water. It was so funny watching tiffany’s face shrink every
time a wave hit her. We kept on saying to each other that it was so painful and
uncomfortable. I finally said….Lets Risk The Ocean (lake)..lol. That is a lyric
from a song I love [David Crowder Band: Sometimes]. Then we held hands and
dared to immerse ourselves in the water. 1….2…..3 holding our breath and
splash! We quickly rose up from the water. We looked at each other and said.. ”
Wow….it feels amazing…so fresh.” It was not cold or uncomfortable..but it was
refreshing. Then God spoke to my heart. “Michelle… imagine your swimming in
grace right now…and how uncomfortable it feels when you first step into it. I
invite you into the ocean of grace. I ask you to jump in… It is uncomfortable
at first but when you let Me in FULLY and immerse yourself in my grace and love…..
you no longer feel uncomfortable but refreshed. Michelle…Risk the Ocean of
Grace!” I felt Gods love and jumped again into the water and twirled under it.
I was twirling in God’s grace <3. After this morning’s rejection and feeling
of failure…I needed that reminder of His never ending Grace.

               After
that amazing time at the beach we walked to Michigan Ave. to do some shopping.
We were so overwhelmed with sales. It was fun shopping with this amazing woman
of God. We had so much fun…we laughed, we shared, we confessed, we told each
other not buy a lot of things (lol) and we got to do an ATL!! ATL is Ask The
Lord. We share ATL with our participants every week. We challenge them to Pray
and then listen to God as He shares His heart with them. Two weeks ago I did an
ATL with a team from Iowa and God showed me a very detailed image. God showed
me an artist drawing with a black pencil on a white blank canvas. After seeing
it I told my group and one of our team mates said she saw that too! I got
others to confirm it and started my search for this artist. Still searching for
an artist a week later…my brother in Christ Joel Walters lead a ATL with the
new team from Arcadia (Inside joke with Canada and Arkansas)! As he prayed I prayed
for God to help me find this artist. Joel prayed and spoke about an artist
drawing on a blank canvas! I was like GOD your confirming it…why can’t I see
it?? Five days passed and today as I walked through the busiest streets in
Chicago…. I see the artist drawing on a blank canvas with a black pencil! I immediately
stop tiffany and asked her to pray with me. I asked God what he wanted to tell
this artist…I heard nothing but was drawn to his announcement. Announcement
read: Appreciate the arts…Donation??? Give up 5 min of your day. I felt God ask
me to make time for this man.  I called
tiffany and told her to get me some money so I could give him but God asked me
to do something that was very strange.

God and Michelle Dialogue:

God: Don’t just give him money… pray for him.

Michelle: God how do you want me to approach it? (Notice
this time I’m asking God how to approach because of this morning!)

God: Write a letter of prayer to him!

Michelle: What?? Random….do you just want me to ask him if I
can write a letter to him! God that’s weird!

God: Do it!

Michelle: Ok

               I walk
up to this artist and sit in his chair. His name is Jason and is a digital
imaging student. I straight out asked him if he wanted to join an experiment. I
explained how I am a missionary and what an ATL is. I told him that I prayed
and that God showed me an image of an artist. I told him that he confirmed that
image. Expecting him to be freaked out, he smiled. I asked him if could he draw
whatever he felt and as he would draw I would write him a prayer. He started
drawing and I started praying. While he drew, he asked me to share my testimony
with him! I was like wow..ok…so I shared how Jesus is changing my life every
day. Then he told me he was a Christian and how he loved to pray! I was like Wow….cool…praise
God. I wrote what God placed in my heart. I prayed for his work and his
marriage. I don’t know why I prayed more for his marriage but I asked God to
bless it and to give them unconditional love for each other.  As I placed the letter in his hand…He graciously
said thank you and gladly accepted the prayer. I received a very cool drawing
of myself.

When I asked God how to initiate
this ATL ..God totally showed up..but when I didn’t ask for guidance from
God..it didn’t follow through. For two weeks I have been searching for this
artist and trying to listen to Gods voice. After three confirmations and asking
some simple questions..and obeying..God blessed a man with a word of
encouragement for his marriage.

I’m falling in love my Abba Father every
day. He accepts me for who I am and uses me…even through my failures! I am not
perfect and I want to serve Him with all my heart. Pray that I can further His
kingdom more and more each day.

                                                                                                         With
His Love,