#TestimonyTuesday - Season Finale of 2020

My 2020 ended with a bang. I've been neglecting the blog because a lot has been going on, but hopefully now that things are sorted out, I'll have more time to start posting again! In my final Testimony Tuesday of 2020, I shared just how much has been going on lately and how God brought me through it. I hope your 2020 ended in a much smoother way, but even if it was just as rocky as mine, I know God is taking care of it for you.

Did I Just Interpret Tongues?

I'm not sure what happened, but one night I dreamed a word that turned out to be a real word in Swahili! Have you experienced this? How does God usually communicate to you?

Scripture References

1 Corinthians 12

Acts 2

How I Almost Died...

I almost died trying to groom a horse! The biggest lesson I learned was, when the Holy Spirit says, "Move," you better MOVE! I didn't mention it in the video, but I had that horse for about 10 years. She died from colic when I was in college.

Lunchtime Childhood Trauma

This #TestimonyTuesday I wanted to share an experience I had as a child that has deeply shaped my views as a teenager and an adult. Sometimes God swoops in Himself to make a miracle happen, but sometimes, He calls on us to do the foot work. We go through experiences help us learn and to become better people, so we be ready when He calls. This testimony may not have ended with a tidy fix for the issue as a whole, but it did lead me to join the fight.

Footnotes

1. A recent example: CNN
2. Learn more about how you can help end hunger: 10 Charities That Fight Hunger

Driving on a Flat Tire

Last week I managed to get a bolt in my tire... Thankfully God got me to the tire shop just in time for the wheel to be completely flat. AND it only did minimal damage so they were able to patch it up instead of having to replace the whole thing.

God Moves in Threes?

This week I have 3 different testimonies. I don't believe in coincidences, I believe in the Holy Spirit. Last week, He led me straight to the verses I needed, He spoke a message to someone directly by rearranging a Sabbath School lesson, and He helped me change a smoke detector battery.

Answered Prayers and the True Vine

Sometimes God takes forever to answer prayers and sometimes it's same day delivery! Last week, God answered one of my prayers almost instantaneously. He gave me a vision of the true vine, which led me to study John 15 in a whole new light!

¹“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. ³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. ⁵I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. ⁸My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.John 15:1-8 CSB

Family Reunions on Zoom

I'm used to living next door to my family and now they're 10 hours away. In the age of COVID, that 10 hours seems farther than ever but Zoom been coming through with the save. God never puts us in darkness without creating pockets of light to guide us to the other side. I've seen so many family members in the past few months that I haven't been able to see, and I'm hoping to see even more in the next few months.

Going Natural for All the Wrong Reasons

I thought I was going natural for cosmetic reasons, but really, God wanted me to stop putting harmful chemicals in my hair because I was developing fibroids!

I Met a Centenarian

I'm immensely grateful that I grew up around older people. I had 3 grandmothers plus 2 honorary grandmothers, a host of aunts and uncles, cousins, and more to look up to. There's something about passing down wisdom generation to generation that just works. God blessed me by placing me in an environment where I had women from every generation in my circle. Now its time for me to do the same for others.

That Time God Forced Me Into Music

Sometimes God pushes us in directions we don't want to go (like Moses and Jonah)--He did this with me and band. I thought it was going to be the worst experience of my life, but it turned out to be one of the best. If it weren't for His pushing I don't know where I'd be or if I would have graduated. Today, I remind myself that God knows exactly where I need to be, despite my adamant protestations to His plan. What is God trying to get you to do?

Surprise! Manna From Above

God knows what we will want and need before we do. When I bought my house, I wasn't thinking about gardening. Over the past year and a half I've grown increasingly homesick for farm life, specifically gardening. Since I didn't buy the house for that purpose, I've been struggling figuring out how I can reconcile the two. Saturday, I made the discovery that there's a massive, fruitful avocado tree in my yard! God knew exactly what I would want and He delivered!!

Failure is Normal

Being delivered from a sin doesn’t mean you’re never tempted again, it means you have mastered the tools God has given you to overcome the temptation. Like anything though, I’ve found that if I don’t practice using those tools (Prayer, Studying the Word, Fellowship with the Body of Christ) I get rusty at using them and have to restrain myself. Don’t give up when you give in to temptation, just get back to training with your tools!

I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 1 Corintians 15:31 NASB

False Alarm, Real Problem

Last night my dad got a call saying someone had hit a cow near our house. Frantically, he went to check on our cows and see if any were missing. Luckily all of our cows were accounted for, but there was a problem our bull. If it hadn't been for the call, he wouldn't have found out until the morning and our pour bull would have had a very rough night. In life, we experience false alarms, but we should take each one seriously because sometimes God is using that false alarm to point out a real problem!

How God Stopped Me From Being A Thief

Last week I had this crazy idea and was planning to take matters into my own hands. God showed Himself without me even asking and brought me my heart's desire: a mango so I could plant a mango tree. 😂 It was a beautiful reminder that He hears everything and cares about the littlest things. What has He done for you lately?

#TestimonyTuesday: Keeping Your Cool in the Heat

Losing A/C in South Florida is no joke, and so far it has happened two years in a row. But everything works for the good of those who worship God (Romans 8:28), and this time was no different. What has God been doing for you lately?

Ask And You Shall Receive

Season 1 Episode Q

Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for—believe that you have received it and it will be yours. Mark 11:24 CSB

My Testimony Tuesday was too long for an instagram video, so I decided to make it into a podcast episode. When I need God to straighten out my finances, He came through with a quickness. At the end of the day though, it's not just about God filling up my cup, it's about what I do with what He's giving me.

Miracles in Belize

Season 1 Episode 29

Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.Galatians 6:2 CSB

The entrance to where I stayed in Belize
Photocredit: PSALMS to God

I went on my first mission trip! In this episode I wanted to dispel some of the beliefs about mission trips I encountered before I left and I wanted to share with you some of the miracles I experienced there. In the episode I share 6 miracles I saw throughout the week, and those are just the ones I know about! One thing is for certain, if you let God take the reins, He'll show you Who He is.

Footnotes and References

The background ambiance is actually a recording I took while in Belize.

Jeffrey Gettleman, Hari Kumar, and Kai Schultz. "Retrieving Body of Missionary Killed on Remote Indian Island Is a Struggle". NY Times. November 24, 2018

Matthew 10:14; Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5

I totally forgot to mention that the Vacation Bible School theme was Fruit of the Spirit, which as you know is also the theme for this season of the podcast.

Stalling the Ineveitable

I've always had trouble with my cycle: from cramps, to heavy flows, to unpredictability... I've thrown up, passed out, lost my peripheral vision, and everything in between. So when I realized that my period was due for a visit during my first mission trip, I was worried. I was already worried about spending a whole week with people—I'm not usually a people person. Adding PMS on top of that seemed like a recipe for disaster. To top it off, it was due around the time I was planning to go hiking through the rainforest so that I could go zip lining and cave tubing. It seemed like a horrible situation.

So, every day I was praying that God would work a miracle.

On Wednesday, my period showed up a whole 2 days early; the exact opposite of what I was praying for. That didn't stop me, though. I asked God to basically pause my period so I could enjoy the zip lining and cave tubing. I asked Him to make the actual period light and painless so that I could continue to help on Friday and not having any problems on Sabbath. When I woke up Thursday morning, I hadn't bled all night. My period actually stopped until Thursday night. I had minimal cramp when it resumed and it was much lighter than usual.

Matthew 7:7 says that if we ask, it will be given to us. I asked, and God gave.

Body Image & Body Positivity

We live in a society where we are constantly bombarded with images of what we're "supposed" to look like. Many of us struggle to accept who we are and love ourselves for who God created us to be. This past year God helped me to overcome a lot of the issue I had with myself and I wanted to share that with you, because He can help you too.

#TestimonyTuesday 6: Self Image & Body Positivity from Shiree Hughes on Vimeo.