A Time to Give Thanks

A week ago, I was wrestling with the Lord over the nutrition plan that Jeff is currently following because of the difficulty of living it out.  Quite frankly, Jeff is healed in the name of Jesus, but tired and weary of the tediousness of his particular plan.  He spends many hours a day preparing food, juicing, taking supplements and what not.  Don't get me wrong, every minute of it is SO WORTH IT!!! But I have felt for a long time that the degree to which we are following this plan might not be necessary. However, we are certain that God led us down this path, feel that it is "our creek" (see the story about the act of obedience required of Naaman for healing 2 Kings 5:11), and had to hear from God in a very convincing way that we could stop "washing in this creek" in order to feel good about it.

So I did what I have done many times and I layed out a fleece like Gideon. The Lord brought to mind the scripture "Be still and know that I am God" so I asked him to convince me by showing it to me. 

Later that morning I went to Christmas village with my sister and gasped when I saw a hand painted sign with that verse on it. Wow, God, that was quick!. But this is BIG so could you do it again?

During the week, I picked up a devotional book of a coworker's and the devotional I opened to had the scripture in it!!! (Don't miss this, I rarely look at that particular book and what are the chances I would OPEN to a devotional with this scripture in it?) Thank you Lord.  I'm beginning to believe. Again?

And then..... the best was yesterday morning when I was reading through the blogs Nena and I have written, reflecting on how God SPOKE Extraordinary God into existence when I first heard Him whisper "Beach", not knowing that Nena had planned Easter beach events on the very beach that He was speaking about, how His Glory had SHOWN UP, and then I came to a blog Jeff had written.  The ONLY blog that Jeff had written! I about fell off the couch when I saw this picture posted on that blog!

If you don't believe me look back at the blog dated May 21, 2013 and appropriately titled "Taking a Stand of Faith".




Isn't it sweet of God to renew my confidence in the fact that He speaks into MY life by my reminding me through the blogs, and then to speak again?!!!!! Extraordinary!!!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!! The God who CREATED THE UNIVERSE SPOKE into my little ole life and convinced me (and later Jeff as I retold him the story) that we no longer had to swim in this creek!!

As if this was not enough, Friday, November 15th ended up being an EXTRAORDINARY day! One for the Smith history books! Shortly after my revelation, I was going through the mail and opened Brady's acceptance letter to UAB, Brady started on a National spiritual modified fast lead by Jordin Rubin called the Daniel Diet (how the Lord led us to this is another great testimony), and our family traveled to Orange Beach
to celebrate in advance the good results that God has assured us we will get on November 26th when Jeff has his six month scans.  We are celebrating in FAITH, because once we have the scan results, it will be FACT.  Just like the fact that it DID NOT RAIN OUT Extraordinary God, despite the weather
predictions! We stood in FAITH and it became FACT! We serve an EXTRAORDINARY God!!! It's all over but the rainbows...

Christmas in July

We woke up very early Sunday, 7/14 - the day of Extraordinary God since Susie, our gracious hostess on Kiawah Island, had an early morning flight to the Bahamas.  We were full of excitement and joyful anticipation about what our Abba Father had in store! As we lay awake in bed, one of us commented that it felt very much like Christmas morning! We didn't know what gifts lay beneath the tree, but we certainly knew that our Abba Father had already given us a beautifully wrapped present by allowing us to be a part of this extraordinary event! We had felt his presence in a mighty way all week long, but we knew that this day would be extra special and well - EXTRAORDINARY.

While laying there, the Lord impressed upon us that we should walk down the beach and pray in front of the Sanctuary Hotel where we would set up for the event.  We jumped out of bed, put on a comfortable outfit, and began to search for disposable coffee cups for the journey.  As the Lord would have it, the only disposable cups that Suzy had were Christmas cups! This only added fuel to our fire!

We were hopeful that the weather would be as beautiful as it had been during the day on Saturday, but it was not to be. Seeing the clouds,we were even more thankful that the Lord had answered our prayer the day before and allowed Moore Arts Movement a sunny day to play on the beach and in the pool.  The morning of the event, the clouds had reappeared overhead, rain was threatening and the winds were whipping.  

It appeared that God was going to require us to exercise our faith right up until the time of the event.  We were prepared to do just that and headed out for the Sanctuary Hotel, Christmas cups in hand.

What awaited us at the hotel was more glorious than any Christmas present we had ever received! Terrance, one of our partners, had been prompted weeks earlier to pray that a rainbow would appear on the day of the event.  A rainbow did not seem likely as the wind whipped around us and the skies were black and heavy with rain. When we arrived at The Sanctuary we thanked God that we FELT His mighty presence and would also welcome His VISIBLE presence. Kristi began writing EXTRAORDINARY GOD in big letters in the sand right in front of the hotel. When she finished we turned around to face the ocean and noticed the skies had parted and, in the clouds, was the most beautiful rainbow we had ever seen! God's visible presence was there!  

We had just received the best Christmas gift ever and we jumped up and down, much like we might have done when we were younger. We took pictures of the rainbow and sent them to Terrance and Matthew so that they also would be blessed! We were full of praise for our EXTRAORDINARY GOD!!!!!

We drank in the beauty of the rainbow, but quickly had to turn back towards home in order to prepare breakfast for our guests. As we walked home, the rain began to fall and soon the wind was blowing quite forcefully.  The wind and the rain continued as we all got ready for church and as we walked into the sanctuary of Church of Our Saviour, we had the opportunity to speak words of faith about the weather to just about everyone we saw.  We shared the story of 2 Chronicles 7:13 several times and walked by faith, surely not by sight, as the service began.

The Lord was sweet and the rain was replaced by sunny skies as we worshipped in His sanctuary enjoying a preview of what Moore Arts Movement had in store for the afternoon.  

We had moved from darkness into light as we praised our heavenly father through prayer, praise, dance and song! We basked in the feeling of sun on our faces as we made the final preparations for the event.

When we began to set up that evening on the beach we had to make a quick decision to completely reverse the direction of the service because of the wind. The Lord had given us knowledge that we needed to have everyone speak with the wind so the crowd could hear everything. Unbeknownst to us, we then set up the service so that Matthew gave his testimony right where he washed ashore in 2005.

The skies remained sunny as the event began and the first words of welcome included a praise to our God for doing just as He said He would in 2 Chronicles 7:13 and "closing up the skies"! Extraordinary!

Then, although it had not been in the script, as Kristi introduced Terrance, she told the crowd of the rainbow that she and Nena had witnessed that morning. 

The knowledge that we had been praying for a rainbow allowed the crowd to enter into our full measure of excitement as they saw our Lord and Saviour light up the skies with a fireworks display of rainbows, concluding in a double rainbow near the end of the event.  It truly was one of the most EXTRAORDINARY displays of God's presence that we had ever witnessed!

If you look closely you can see the double rainbow. One is to the left of the other.

Our evening of worship included David Childs providing beautiful praise music accompanied by Emily Richardson on percussion, with Moore Arts Movement dancing with their 'toes in the sand', Christal Brown-Gibson's amazing special music, 'What Are Little Girls Made Of?' singing two sweet numbers and Matthew Pridgen's testimony. The evening concluded with a wonderful time of prayer ministry that included salvation, healing and deliverance. We hope you enjoy reading every word of Matthew Pridgen's blog (see link below) for a beautiful reflection of the full evening that our sweet Lord gave us, which was more of an EXTRAORDINARY 'Christmas in July' gift than we could have ever imagined! (Enjoy the pictures of the event at the conclusion of this blog.)

http://reawake.org/miracles-at-extraordinary-god-2013/

P.S. The next morning Susie emailed us from the Bahamas to see how the service went. She had lifted us up in prayer the whole evening. We couldn't type an email fast enough to share an update including the beautiful display of rainbows that God had provided. Later that same morning she was spending quiet time reading the Bible and God directed her to Chapter 1 of Ezekiel. God spoke to her in a mighty way when she read verse 28 and she knew God was showing her something about the rainbows at Extraordinary God. God, You are so amazing and we love you so much!

Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. Ezekiel 1:28

Extraordinary God is here!

The time has arrived and all the prep work for Extraordinary God has been completed. There is one more wonderful piece of the advertisement left to happen which is for The Sanctuary to include our event information in the 'Pillow Turn Down' service for all their guests Saturday night!

We have safely arrived on Kiawah Island and are anxiously awaiting Moore Arts Movement's arrival. (We are beyond blessed that Jerry & Susie Keefe have opened their home up to us for the weekend!) There is a definite buzz in the air about the event and we are humbled to be a part of the Lord's plans. 

NOW...there is just one aspect of the event that is 'interesting' and that is the forecast of rain. A number of people have reached out with concern about rain chances so we immediately went to the Lord in prayer to seek His voice. We knew the Lord had taken us this far on a journey filled with amazing signs and wonders so we knew He also had a plan for the weather. The Lord has gifted us with unwavering faith for every aspect of this event so we began exercising faith that it would not rain Sunday night.

On Wednesday morning (after a wonderful time of faith prayers about the weather for the event) Nena attended a praise & worship service and was turning to one of our theme verses, 2 Chronicles 7:14, that we have been mediating on over the last month. Her eyes were drawn to verse 13 instead. The verse began (we have chill bumps right now as we write about this awesome sign from God)

“IF I SHUT UP THE HEAVENS SO THAT THERE IS NO RAIN...”

Wow, God!!! Nena was blown away,

BUT…that wasn’t all the Lord had to say about the weather. 

THEN…Terrance, a dear friend and prayer warrior, then asked Nena to turn to James 5:17 which read, “Elijah was a human being even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.”!!!!!!! 

Additionally, another worshipper, Steve, read a message he had received from his wife (right after Nena shared 2 Chronicles 7:13 and how we were staying in faith about the weather), which said, “Faith is a gift.  God rewards those that exercise it.”

We stand in awe of the fact that we serve a Living God who hears our prayers and speaks into our lives!!! With the event just one day away, we are anticipating mighty works from our Lord…including the weather! We love you Lord!

We Covet Your Prayers!

 I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength! Ephesians 1:21-23

Come, Holy Spirit, Come. Weave this verse into every second of "Extraordinary God". We are blown away by the utter extravagance of your work in us and those you have brought along side of us! We look forward to seeing your Glory on Kiawah beach in less than two weeks!! We need your endless energy and boundless strength to finish this good work that You have started.

This week's prayer praises:

• The banner has been placed on John's Island!
• We have received additional funding from various sources.
• Advertisement distribution is underway and progressing well.
• The music has been decided on and coordinated between the performers and the dancers.
• A few precious people from Church of Our Saviour have offered to coordinate and provide the meal for the children from The Biblical Center on the night of the performance.
• Church leaders have been contacted and we anticipate a good response from the people that they invite.

This week's prayer requests:

• Pray that the Lord will prepare the hearts of all the people that will attend, whether they are vacationers on the island, people coming from other parts of Charleston or those traveling from out of town.
• Pray for the Lord to bless each person that is a part of our service and their families.  Pray for the Lord to give them full protection.
• Pray for God's favor in continuing to provide the money for the fundraising budget.
• Pray for each aspect of the advertisement that will take place for the event - posters, email blasts, banners, Facebook and flier distribution. Specifically pray for time, ideas for, and locations for posters advertising the event.
• Pray that the Lord will fill the buses provided by The Biblical Center with people who want to attend the beach event and need to know the power of a Living God.
• Pray for a vision for prayer services prior to and after the event.
• Pray in faith that the Lord will provide beautiful weather for this event.
• Pray for all aspects of the technical equipment to work well from set up to completion of event.
• Pray for traveling mercies for every one involved and for everyone to remain in good health.
• Pray for God to supply people to act as prayer ministers during and after the event.

Come seek the Lord along with us! We are confident that He has something EXTRAORDINARY in store! 

This Week's Prayer Praises and Requests

We are excited to share our program for the "Extraordinary God" event! 

Extraordinary God Program

July 14th, 6pm

______________________________________

• Austin Smith will be painting the Kiawah sunset up front throughout the whole service.

• Gathering Music - (David Childs & Emily Richardson on drums; Moore Arts Movement will be by boardwalk welcoming guests to the beach)
•     Spirit of the Living God
•     Here I Am To Worship
•     Grace Flows Down

• Welcome & Recognition of Sponsors & Worship Team (Kristi Smith & Nena Jackson)

• Opening Prayer (Terrance Thrower)

• Worship Set (David Childs, Emily Richardson on drums & Moore Arts Movement will be praise dancing)
• Everlasting God : Brenton Brow
• How Great Is Our God : Tomlin
• You Are My King : Billy Foot

•  Overview of the Evening - Kristi Smith & Nena Jackson

• Special Music (Christal Brown-Gibson w/ Girls from 'What Are Little Girls Made Of?' Camp; Moore Arts Movement Praise Dancing
• I Give Myself Away
• Created to Worship

• Special Music (Christal Brown-Gibson with backup singers & Moore Arts Movement praise dancing)
• Surely the Presence of the Lord is in This Place
• Holy Holy Holy
• Jesus is in this place

• Rap/testimony (Matthew Pridgen)

• Altar Call (David Childs)
• Come Thou Fount

• Closing Song (David Childs, Christal Brown-Gibson, Emily Richardson & Moore Arts Movement praise dancing
• How Great Thou Art : Paul Baloche 

***Prayer Ministry will be offered during Altar Call and can continue during and after the closing song (for as long as The Holy Spirit is moving!)

__________________________________________________

Seeing the program makes our hearts dance for joy as we anticipate the evening! It brings the reality of the event into focus. God has allowed us to participate in something very special and we are overwhelmed with grattitude! Thank you for being a very important part of our team!

Prayer Praises:

• The banner has arrived and will be placed on John's Island at the beginning of next week.
• In addition to T-shirts we will also have string bags available to promote the event.
• We have received additional funding from various sources.
• Advertisement distribution is underway and progressing well.
• The music has been decided on and coordinated between the performers and the dancers.
• A few precious people from Church of Our Saviour have offered to coordinate and provide the meal for the children from The Biblical Center on the night of the performance.
• Church of Our Saviour has offered to be a sponsor of the event and has allowed the funding to flow through their ministry so that the money donated will be tax deductible.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that the Lord will prepare the hearts of all the people that will attend, whether they are vacationers on the island, people coming from other parts of Charleston or those traveling from out of town.
• Pray for the Lord to bless each person that is a part of our service and their families.  Pray for the Lord to give them full protection.
• Pray for God's favor in continuing to provide the money for the fundraising budget.
• Pray for the church leaders that will be contacted to let them know about the event and to invite their members and friends.
• Pray for each aspect of the advertisement that will take place for the event - posters, email blasts, banners, Facebook and flier distribution. Specifically pray for time, ideas for, and locations for posters advertising the event.
• Pray for success of the car wash, confirmation of a date to have it, and that Brianna's friends will be available to participate.
• Pray that the Lord will fill the buses provided by The Biblical Center with people who want to attend the beach event and need to know the power of a Living God.
• Pray for a vision for prayer services prior to and after the event.
• Pray in faith that the Lord will provide beautiful weather for this event.
• Pray for all aspects of the technical equipment to work well from set up to completion of event.
• Pray for traveling mercies for every one involved and for everyone to remain in good health.

Pray 2 Chronicles 7:14 along with us. "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." We are praying for healing of our land and it is our hope that you will join us. Thank you in advance!  We covet your prayers!

Prayer Praises and Requests

Three weeks from today Kristi will arrive in Charleston in preparation for the Extraordinary God beach event.  How AWESOME is that!!! God's grace has been poured out as we have dreamed, planned, and prepared for this good work that He prepared in advance for us to do!!

Picture of actual word

When we think back to the day when Kristi wrote down the word "Beach" in response to a "word from the Lord", we are thrilled beyond words at how PERSONAL Our Lord and Saviour is because at the time she didn't know what God was up to. When He spoke into her spirit, "The Sanctuary Hotel", Kristi didn't know that Nena had helped organize Easter Sunrise Beach Services at that very hotel and that she already developed a relationship with the management team!!! Nena and Kristi NEVER could have dreamed up something that perfect. Only our Sovereign Lord can do that!

Additionally we could not have connected
ourselves with Matthew Pridgen, but God had already taken care of that as well.  Matthew's wife mentored Madison, Nena's daughter, a couple of YEARS before our ministry became a reality! We also spoke at the same healing conference as Matthew did in June 2012 and our talks complimented each other as if we had planned it that way. We all three have the same passion for the evangelism tool, Bibleineleven.com. God's connections astound and amaze us!

As our prayers about the beach event continued the Lord showed Kristi the vision of toes dancing in the sand. As she verbalized to Nena what the Lord had shown her she suddenly realized the connection that "Toes in the Sand" is the name of Nena's book! And MAM (Moore Arts Movement) was the God-ordained choice for the "dancing toes".  Nena has been connected to MAM through her long time friendship with Anitra Birdsong and coordinated a musical performance by MAM last summer for The Biblical Center, a ministry that is mentoring young people during the formative years of their lives.

God's omnipotent hand has been busy at work and we are humbled to be a part of His plan!

This week's prayer praises:

• The banner has been shipped and we are anxiously awaiting its  arrival.
• Sean Jager, William Simmons and Terrance Thrower proposed the sale of a Tshirt designed for the event.  Sean, who is the owner of Gteam Authentic Wear, offered to cover the cost of the shirts, but allow us a percentage of the profits.
• Terrance graciously agreed to do the opening prayer for the event.
• The advertisement for the eNewsletter for the Diocese of South Carolina has been written, approved, and published. 
• Kristi's daughter, Brianna, and a group of her friends will host a car wash as a fund raiser for the event in Birmingham, Alabama.
• We have received additional funding from various sources.
• Advertisement distribution is underway and progressing well.
• We have found favor with Vicky Meister, a wonderful connection to help spread the word on Kiawah.
• Susie and Jerry Keefe's beautiful home on Kiawah has been confirmed as lodging for MAM, Kristi and Nena for the entire weekend of the event. Susie's house is truly a haven and will be a blessing!

This week's prayer requests:

• Pray that the Lord will prepare the hearts of all the people that will attend, whether they are vacationers on the island, people coming from other parts of Charleston or those traveling from out of town.
• Pray for the Lord to bless each person that is a part of our service and their families.  Pray for the Lord to give them full protection.
• Pray for God's favor in continuing to provide the money for the fundraising budget.
• Pray for the church leaders that will be contacted to let them know about the event and to invite their members and friends.
• Pray for each aspect of the advertisement that will take place for the event - posters, email blasts, banners, Facebook and flier distribution. Specifically pray for time, ideas for, and locations for poster advertising the event.
• Pray for confirmation of a date and success of the car wash
• Pray for coordination  of music and dancing.
• Pray that the Lord will fill the buses provided by The Biblical Center with people who want to attend the beach event and need to know the power of a Living God.
• Pray for provision of air mattresses for lodging and beach blankets for the event itself.
• Pray for a simple meal plan for the boys and girls from The Biblical Center prior to the event. Pray for people willing to help in this endeavor.
• Pray for a vision for prayer services prior to and after the event.

Once again, thanks so much for seeking the Lord on our behalf! We covet your prayers!

  

Prayer Praises and Requests

We are amazed at God's timing as we get ready to send out our praise report and prayer requests this week.  We are ONE month away from "Extraordinary God"!!! Hard to believe!!! In a month we will be on the beach praising the Lord and watching a God sized dream unfold before our eyes! How exciting!

We have had a very productive week and thank you for your prayers because we know they are playing a critical role in this!One of the things God has suprised us with this week is an idea that the Lord has placed in Nena's spirit to have an artist at the event to paint a  portrait of the ocean and the beach event while it is actually taking place .If you haven't had the privilege of watching something like this before, you are in for a treat!


This week's prayer praises:

• We have had money donated towards our fundraising budget. Our printing costs for the flyers were also donated.
• We have designed and ordered banners for advertisement of the event and to display at the event.
• We have identified and contacted a drummer to play the bongos for the event.  
• We have secured lodging for MAM, the Theater Group of dancers from Atlanta.

This week's prayer requests:

• Pray that the Lord will prepare the hearts of all those people that will attend, whether they are vacationers on the island, people coming from other parts of Charleston or those traveling from out of town.
• Pray for the Lord to bless each person that is a part of our service and their families.  Pray for the Lord to give them full protection.
• Pray for God's favor in continuing to provide the money for the fundraising budget.
• Pray for the church leaders that will be contacted to let them know about the event and to invite their members and friends.
• Pray for each aspect of the advertisement that will take place for the event - posters, email blasts, banners, Facebook and flier distribution.

Thanks so much for seeking God on our behalf! We covet your prayers!