What has God done for you?

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations 

what he has done.

1 Chronicles 16:8

During my devotional time today God gave me that verse. Moments later God gave me Mark 5:19 which reads,

"Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

So, I wanted to Fully Surrender to what I believe God was asking me to do today.

Here you have it:

"Making known to others what He has done for me."

* While still in my mothers womb, God had a very special lady praying for me - my mother-in-law.

* My mother-in-law prayed for "the wife her son would some day marry" for all my childhood and teen years.

* At just 6-7 years old God drew me to His Word and His Truth. I tried reading the King James Version Bible on and off for most of my childhood, trying to understand what it was I was supposed to know.

* At age 12 God brought this amazing gift into my life, my dear friend, Macalla. She began introducing me to Scripture through verses written on the bottoms of "illegally" passed notes in middle school. {Sorry teachers...}

By age 13 and 14, I had become "friends" with a bad crowd of kids and had been sexually assaulted three times. I did not know up from down and was so lost I didn't know what to think or do.

* But my Abba Father brought me another sweet sweet gift at age 14. A gift that would rebuild my confidence in people and in myself once again. A gift that told me, "You are beautiful. You can do whatever you set your mind to." A gift that coached me on how to cheer and get on the cheer squad. This gift's name is Carmen. She was the truest of true friends and together we made the cheer squad.

* At age 15, the most pure love I have ever known occurred. My mother, knowing I had been searching for "god", entered into my bedroom on a Sunday morning. She told me a man at work had been talking to her about God and she was going to go to church that day. She invited me and told me I had 10 minutes to get ready. I hurried and put a pink dress on with black shoes.

That morning, my mother and I headed off to church for the first time.

That morning, July 8th, 1992, I gave my life to God.

That morning, I found God and... as the saying would go, "God found me."

My all-time favorite Scripture passage comes from this life-long search for God,

"Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord."

~ Jeremiah 29:12-14

* Graduating from high school, I was supposed to attend Evangel Bible College in Springfield, MO, but God had other plans for my life and moved me, along with my family, up to Maine.

There, God made himself quickly known. My family and I found a church and began attending there regularly. Another family was also attending there - my future in-laws and their children.

Three months prior to ever meeting my husband, my quiet and humble future father-in-law made this proclamation to his family,

"Do you see that girl up there with the blonde hair? She is going to be Jason's wife some day."

Never before, or since then (that we know of), has he ever made such a bold proclamation.

* Three months later, December 24th, 1995, God led me to the man I now call my husband.

On this day, God gave me another amazing gift. A man who had saved himself for me. A man who loves and cherishes his Creator. A man who is gentle, humble, intelligent, kind, and honors me in so many ways.

* August 2, 1996 - Jason asked me to marry him.

* January 4, 1997, at the age of 19, I married my best-friend. I married the man God created for me. On this day, Jason married the woman his mother had prayed for all of his life.

* After infertility issues and 2 miscarriages,

God blessed me with my first miracle in December of 2000.

* My second miracle and gift from God came just a short 15 months later in April of 2002.

* After more (3.5 years to be exact) years of infertility and three more heart-breaking miscarriages, my third miracle came in September of 2005.

* And finally, after another 3 years of infertility and 2 more heart-breaking miscarriages, I was blessed with my fourth miracle (thus my handle, 4Miracles. :-)) in July of 2008.

* Along the way, God has also given me the desires of my heart. He has allowed me to stay-at-home with my children, to home school them, and to do public speaking engagements throughout New England teaching and bringing awareness to others about the atrocities of human trafficking.

* I've been married for nearly 17 years and still going strong!

My life is richly blessed. Not because life has been a walk in the park, but because I know God has done great things in and through me; because I know God has been with me since before my conception.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb...

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your

book before one of them came to be."

Psalm 139:13,16

So, here, at this moment, I want to praise God for all He has done for me. I want to proclaim His great name, the great name of Jesus Christ!

So, what about you? If you inventoried your life, what great things has God done in you and for you that you want to praise Him for, proclaim His name for, and make known to "all the nations"?