Paths Of Waiting Before The Lord is my latest music album of comforting Christian prayersongs, released last month. This new video recounts through my original art and in my own words the compelling story behind that album.
May the Lord use my story on this video to bless and encourage those who need to be reminded that Jesus loves them, of His forgiveness and grace, and that He answers our prayers in His own way and time, according to our needs, in Jesus’ name, amen.
To listen to the songs on Paths of Waiting follow the link to my Hear & Now Website or listen on your favorite streaming station.
When I first fell about three weeks ago, my whole body was screaming with the worst pain I’d ever felt. I wanted more than anything to die. Throughout my agony in the hospital I cried and prayed for Jesus to please come take me Home and rescue me from this ordeal. Having already fallen flat on my face from a dead faint onto a hardwood floor back in November and miraculously only suffering painful bruising, a black eye, and bloody nose, then losing Mama and my precious sister Nancy, enduring vicious migraines every day, and fierce tension knots, I felt like this new affliction was the last straw. No way did I want to face this new trial.
~~Unlike King David, the man after God’s own heart, who, when God put through a dark trial, he faithfully prayed,
“Your favor, O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain.Then You turned away from me, and I was shattered.I cried out to You, O Lord. I begged the Lord for mercy, saying, “What will You gain if I die, if I sink into the grave? Can my dust praise You? Can it tell of Your faithfulness? Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me. Help me, O Lord.””
Psalms 30:7-10 NLT
No, I was not good like David, for the very last thing I thought of was praising the Lord in my pain, alas. I screamed in bitter agony.
The Bible says that the dead praise not the living God, however He seeks a people who will praise and glorify Him despite their trials.
“The dead cannot sing praises to the Lord, for they have gone into the silence of the grave. But we can praise the Lord both now and forever! Praise the Lord!” Psalms
115:17-18 NLT
I learned that if I truly love the Lord I would endure despite the pain and continue to trust Him believing He will come through in the end. By His Almighty grace, I have determined to seek for ways that I can praise Him during this trial.
For His Word tells us that God’s mercies are new every morning, great is His faithfulness. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
One thing I will praise the Lord for is giving me such a wonderful husband. Ever since I fractured my humerus I’ve had to rely on Mark for assistance in doing everything ~~even doing my hair. Mark finds this task quite difficult and I must admit he has a gift for making really bad hairstyles. They are so awful that they are hilarious and make me laugh. I wish I had been documenting these crazy styles. Even JJ, our Yorkie, noticed him fixing my hair one day. Her little black eyes seemed to pop as she suddenly halted and hopped fast backwards out of the room, We both wish we could’ve documented her reaction on video.
Well, the night he made my hair look like I was wearing an ice bag, I could not stop laughing. I then said, “Honey, can’t you just manage a simple braid?”
I texted a friend about the issue. She told me that her daughter was really gifted at braiding hair and had her own website dedicated to braiding, and she gave me the URL.
I told Mark and sent him to the website. “Here is your chance, honey. Study her techniques and you will soon be braiding my hair!”
I was hopeful as I saw him intently studying two of the braiding videos. But when I noticed how complicated the braids were my heart sank.
Sure enough he soon gave up overwhelmed. Closing his laptop he looked at me and said, “You have two chances for me to ever braid your hair~ fat chance and no chance!”
I pouted. Why could he not have just chosen a video on how to do a simple braid?
Well, the next day the home health care nurse who comes to help me wash my hair and bathe said that she used to run her own hair braiding business on the side till she had her baby!
Would I like for her to braid my hair? She gave me two long beautiful French braids on either side of my head!
Here was my loving God giving me a chance to replace Mark’s fat chance and no chance!
How I praise Him for showing me His love and mercy in that special way!
And that wasn’t the end of the story either.
The next morning my Occupational Therapist came and wanted to braid my hair. She did a beautiful job. Once again, God demonstrated His love and mercy sending two people to braid my hair!
The dead praise not the living God but I will praise Him for these special ways He blessed me.
And the praising for His amazing blessings does not end there.
We went to the orthopedic doctor for a check up and while she did not see a great deal of improvement in the fracture as it was huge; she said it was going to take time and to be patient; after testing me she said I had no nerve damage!
This was very encouraging to me! She said with this kind of injury they sometimes see nerve damage in the hand so it was very good that I had none.
Glory to our wonderful God!
And today after Mark had graced me with another awful hairstyle last night that was truly hilarious, I went into the bathroom and prayed to be able to braid my own hair.
And God be praised~ He really helped me do it ~despite my broken arm!
God helped me braid my own hair despite my broken arm! Praise our awesome Lord Jesus Christ!
Fat chance and no chance are God’s chances in the eternal realms of the Almighty.
“Lord, You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give You thanks forever!”
Juneteenth is a holiday observed on June 19th that celebrates the emancipation of the former slaves in the United States.
“Emancipation Day” is truly a holiday in our country that everyone should honor and consider thoughtfully and with great thanksgiving to God.
For His word says “…The Lord frees prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord raises up those who are oppressed…” ~ Psalm 146:7- CSB
Was it not the Lord Almighty who heard the many prayers of these enslaved oppressed souls and answered them in His own way and time as He answers all prayer?
To everything a season… Ecclesiastes 3:1
Was it not He who controls the destinies of all nations who opened the eyes of the leaders to see their blindness and hypocrisy in harboring slavery in a land founded on freedom and Christian morality?
The Lord is the One who sets the prisoners free ultimately.
I believe that the enslaved peoples of our nation, based on their great spirituals and hymns, would agree that it was the Lord God who had heard their fervent cries for freedom and brought about their ultimate deliverance.
For they were truly a longsuffering people of great faith.
Their patience teaches us to trust the Lord and believe and hope no matter how discouraging things look, or impossible or hopeless the situation seems.
They inspire us to never give up believing.
Most of these persevering people kept singing, praising, and working for the unseen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom they truly belonged, who had made them His own redeemed children through His death on the cross despite their hardship in the physical world.
His Kingdom was not of this world and they served Himwho was every and all colors, for He was the Great Creator who had made them. And His was the color of love.
The Lord had no favorites. They could see this even if those who had enslaved them were blind~though they too claimed to serve Christ.
The Bible says, “For there is no respect of persons with God.” (Romans 2:11 – KJV) In Him there was no white nor black, male nor female, slave nor free.
All were one in Christ. (*See Galatians 3:28)
In Christ all were made free, for where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:17)
He had made them free in the spiritual realm and one day they knew in their hearts that He would make them free in the material world.
What eyes could not see, their hearts could.
These courageous souls walked by faith and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
When their freedom in this world finally came, these former slaves knew that their prayers had been answered and they gave praise and thanks to the Lord their Deliverer.
“For the Lord hears the needy And does not despise His who are prisoners.” ~ Psalm 69:33 – AMP
Though this holiday has not widely been observed or celebrated in our nation, many of the children of the former slaves have kept up with the tradition of remembrance since the first Emancipation Day.
For It truly is a Day of Thanksgiving and praise, to gather and celebrate freedom and to honor God and praise Him for the deliverance He brought about for those who were so long enslaved in this land.
He sets the captives free and those who were first delivered from their bondage knew who to praise for their liberty.
They loved the Lord with all their heart and their songs and spirituals remain as a testimony forever to eternity of their faith in Him.
Many live in states that are under mandates to stay at home except for fetching groceries, medications, and other necessities. When we meet other people in public like at the store or on a walk we must keep at least six feet apart from them.
I feel great compassion for those who are new to the world of social distancing. Having suffered from chronic migraines for many years I’m well acquainted with living in isolation.
But I can tell you there are ways to make your experience more positive.
First, keep in mind the thought that like all storms at some point “…this too shall pass.”
Isaiah the prophet wrote, ““Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.” ~ Isaiah 26:3 KJV
The Lord has never failed to uphold and give me His peace as I focused my thoughts on Him and maintained an attitude of prayer no matter what the situation.
Prayer is simply talking to God
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”~ Hebrews 4:16 KJV
Abiding in prayer has helped me to draw closer to Christ and strengthened my faith.
If you need help praying, try reading the Bible and turning the scriptures into prayers. Consider the verse from Isaiah 26:3 about peace. You might pray that verse as: “Lord, help me keep my mind focused on thee, please give me Thy perfect peace, and help me trust in thee, in Jesus’ name, amen.”
Prayer is also interceding on behalf of someone’s need.
Prayer can be asking the Lord to meet someone’s need, for healing, for wisdom for leaders, for the nation or nations of the world, for world peace, and so forth.
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth…1 Timothy 2:1-4
I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” 1 Timothy 2:1-4, 8 KJV
A good idea would be to get a journal and to write your prayers to the Lord. Write your thoughts to Him. Talk to Him. Tell Him all your worries and fears…
“…Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7 KJV
When anxious, maintaining an attitude of thankfulness is vitally important. Thinking about all the ways God has come through for me before is something that has always helped me through difficult times.
It is something that energizes and motivates my faith like nothing else!
After telling the Lord about all your fears and worries, why not also try to find at least five things to be thankful for.
Think about at least one way God has answered a prayer you have prayed in the past. How has He come through for you when You were trusting Him?
Keeping a thankful journal is a good habit to cultivate.
These are some of the practices that have always encouraged me during times when I’ve been housebound due to my autoimmune illness.
I pray that these guidelines will also encourage you and help grow your faith both now, during these uncertain times, and long after this Covid 19 storm passes, as it surely will.
No unpredictable path is ever free from stress or anxiety. But God’s grace can give us His peace as we focus our thoughts on Him and on what is positive.
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” ~Philippians 4:8 NLT (*New Living Translation)
God’s word tells us, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” ( *See Philippians 4:13)
Those who wait upon the Lord will run and not be weary, they will walk and not faint… (*See Isaiah 40:31)
The Lord will give strength to His people, the Lord will bless His people with peace… (*See Psalm 29:11)
Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength…” (*See Isaiah 26:4)
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father,please bless all Thy precious children who are reading this prayer. Guard their going out and their coming in from this time forth till forever, and keep them healthy, strong, and sound in every way, protecting them and their loved ones from all evil, harm, sickness, and danger, and fill them with rivers of Thy perfect peace and hope; thank You, Lord, we love You, In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.🖤
Peaceangel Song 
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