Hidden Treasure at the Beach

Look for the hidden treasure in life.  There will always be a bright spot in the middle of a storm like the calm in the eye of a hurricane.  You have heard the old adage to think positive; well, the Lord was the originator of that concept but it has become watered down over the years.   When your world is caving in and nothing is going your way the first thing to do is to stop and thank God for allowing what is happening.  More than likely your heart will not feel grateful but I will advise you to say, “Thank you, Lord” for this situation.  Tell Him you know He is in control and something good will comes out of it.  I’m not saying God is not the cause of the pain, He is however allowing it and He can make the greatest things out of ashes.  Think positively knowing God is on your side. He is working in your situation, and in His Word He promises double for your trouble.  Quote His word back to Him and make your confessions out loud.

“Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance.  And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.”  Isaiah 61:7

Just try it.  It’s not likely to work like magic but I can tell you from personal experience you begin to become renewed and you will start to think differently over time.  And isn’t that what we are after anyway?  We cannot control other people, we can only change our thoughts introducing new ideas with the Word of God. 

I was at a family destination wedding, you know where everyone flies or drives to the exotic location.  In ways it was the best of times and in others it was the worst of times.  That’s all I’m going to say, some of you will know what I mean.  One day to get away from the activity I went to the beach alone.  I found a perfect parking spot, I found a pleasant place to put my lawn chair, I had the optimum sunscreen, sunglasses, reading material and cool drink. It had the makings of being peaceful.

Well, it was supposed to be peaceful but I could not shut my mind off.  I went there to get away from my problems, but I took them to the beach with me.  I pulled my Bible out, and I could not get anything out of it.  I watched the shore and the birds and the people, and all the while my issues were on my mind.   I could smell someone’s cigarette and it smelled good.  I had quit smoking 10 years before and I almost never had a craving anymore.  I thought to myself, I sure wish there was some guy here to hang out with.  Ok, two of my vices that date back as far as I can I recall.  I don’t think I knew enough to thank Him back then but I remember pleading with God, “You have to give me something!”  I was filled with the same frustrations that I had growing up.  My memories of childhood had followed me here.

I was having incredible trouble stopping from rehashing the memories, when a lady about 60 years old walked by on the beach and stooped over about 20 feet in front of me. She dug a hole in the sand, put something in it, covered it up and wrote on the top of it with a stick. She did not look around, she just walked off.  What?  What was that?  She walked off further down the beach never looking around to notice that she was being watched.   Further down the beach she did it again!  The look on my face must have been priceless.  Come on what on earth was she up to?  Of course, I had to find out what in the world she buried.   I was thinking about going over there and digging it up.  Why would she bury it right out in the open where anyone who was paying any attention would be able to catch her? Was it valuable?  Was it an illegal substance?

 One thing is for certain, my relatives were no longer on my mind.  I had to know what that lady was up to.  So as I was mulling over this mystery and wondering how long it would be before my curiosity got the best of me and I started burrowing in the sand looking for gold, the lady came back.  I recognized her and begged her to please tell me what she was up to.

She laughed and proceeded to tell me the most wonderful story of when her three sons were young and they came to the beach.  It was sort of a gloomy day and the boys were bored.  Her husband took some washers and painted them gold and put them in sacks and buried them in various places along the beach.  They were marked in the sand with an ”X”.  She and her husband told the boys a magnificent story about how pirates buried their treasure in this way and the boys walked along the beach discovering buried treasure.  She told me how many years ago her sons were entertained for hours on a gloomy day on the beach.  She and her husband now have grandchildren and their family tradition continues. 

God answered my prayer that day when I pleaded, “You have to give me something”.  God knew I was doing everything in my power to change my thoughts and stop the old childhood recordings from playing. No, a pack of cigarettes didn’t mysteriously appear on the beach, a suntanned guy did not come over for conversation or more, but God gave me buried treasure – literally!  He sent the lady near me to dig a hole in the sand and it was enough to stop the record from playing.  My memory of the trip to the beach was been replaced with children excitedly finding the “X” in the sand, getting their little shovels out, delighted to find their gold.  And for me personally, it stopped my brain from being tormented, helped me resist my old vices instead crying out to God for help, and finding something richer than I ever dreamed possible.

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Diamond Dust In Real Time - Don't Quit

I made God a promise in 2005.  I would not quit a job or a man unless He told me to.  I have bipolar disease, and I’ve learned I often quit people and situations prematurely due to my illness.  I would get to the point that the reality of the situation was so distorted in my brain that could not take it anymore.  Although I have not mastered it, I have come a long way in making more clear minded decisions.  Since that time I have not quit anything.   I have the same husband and job since I made my promise to God.

I have been working as a caregiver and a housekeeper.  It allows me to be self-employed and gives me the freedom and flexibility so I can get established as an artist and writer.  It’s been a good setup for me.  I see most of my clients about every other week.

Sometimes I feel that God could better use me elsewhere.  I mean, I could go out and be a speaker for Him and He has me scrubbing floors?  I learned to be careful what I prayed for as I used to pray, “Get me off my knees”.  He did alright, I ended up with Bursitis and such pain and swelling in my right knee I no longer could scrub floors on my hands and knees.  He answered my prayer, just not in the way I had hoped.  Sigh.  After that one, I thought, I’ll just keep on doing what He was me do, even if I would prefer to be doing something else.   I will not quit.

Sometimes I’d clean a toilet and think, I’m cleaning God’s toilet, or, I work for God, Jesus is my boss and any other number of mind sets to amuse myself and make the job go faster.  For the most part I succeeded and often I would think to myself, maybe I won’t have to be back in two weeks…maybe God would move me on.  Two weeks later I was back and I would repeat the same process.  I have been treated well and with respect and I don’t mean to sound like I was ungrateful. I simply wanted to do more for the body of Christ and often I could not see myself making any progress doing this type of work.

In the Movie “The Karate Kid” the young man wants to learn karate for self-defense and protection.  An older Japanese man agrees to teach him.  Very specifically, the older man shows him how to wash cars, paint fences and a number of other chores.  After a time, the young man is frustrated, feels used and wants to know why he must do all this work and is not being taught karate.  Well, what he was being taught were disciplines.  And often I say to myself as was said in the movie, “Wax on, wax off.”  The Lord has me cleaning a toilet, the same toilet after 12 years, because He knows it is what I need.  It doesn’t sound very glamorous does it?  But I can assure you it is very effective. 

One particular home has proved to be a time of testing.  There was a time that I ended up with headaches when I would go there.  That is in the past and it turned out to be the pressure I was putting on myself.  Each time I would finish I would think, this must be my last time here.  And two weeks later I would be back again.  Grrrrr.  I tried numerous things like memorizing Scripture or pretending I was speaking to an audience—anything to shut down my internal dialogue of how bad I wanted out.  However, I would not quit.  And maybe that was one thing God was looking for.  He wanted me to trust Him, even though for the life of me, I could not understand why He still had me there.

Recently something happened at that job and I did not want to go back.  My husband, John, was not feeling well and was coming home from work early.  I was scheduled to go there in the afternoon and I thought, like a good wife, I should call in and stay home with John.  I asked myself really, is it about your husband being sick or because you don’t want to go there?  Well, it was both but I know which one outweighed the other.   When I told John I thought I should stay home with him he said, “I’m not that sick, you’re not getting out of it that easy.”  I knew he was right.  Face those giants.  If your battle is not against flesh and blood then don’t fight with flesh and blood.  So I get my armor on and I don’t back down and I don’t quit.

This particular house is never dirty, just a little dusty.  Then it hits me.  A dream I had about dusting a secret room.  My friend interpreted the dream and it was not ordinary dust but diamond dust.   The dream’s meaning was more complicated than this but in essence it meant the time of testing was over and all that was left was “diamond dust”.  So with shoulders held high I returned to my client’s home. Much to my surprise I was greeted with an apology and a hug.  Diamond dust, the cutting is done; the only thing left is a little polish.  Had I quit, I would have missed it, my special blessing from God.

He can use me now as I have passed this test. I believe with my whole heart He will move me on and it will be in His timing.  Speaker, writer or artist, I don’t know, but one thing is for sure: I won’t be standing in my own way.

I have learned the truth, when the heat is on do not quit; it is at that very moment that you are closest to your breakthrough.   If you back out and walk away the faces and the names will change in the future but you can be guaranteed to face a similar situation.  I had no way of knowing I would get a warm welcome, it was the furthest thing from my mind, I just had to show up.  God took care of the rest.

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God,  so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Ephesians 6:10-17

Kitty – A Guide To Finding A Publisher

In July, 2014, six years after self-publishing my book, Set Free From Darkness, I finally sent it out to publishers.  Until that point I knew I had to learn to cope with the criticism I would surely receive about the subject matter.  The July 4th weekend I had given my book to a family at my church and their response was “silence”.  In the past that would have me home and into a meltdown, but this time I simply shrugged my shoulders and said, “It matters very little.  It says more about their relationship with God than it has to do with me.”  I had finally arrived at the point that I was not going to have other people’s opinions determine my worth.  It was time to send my book out to publishers.  I picked the top 10 Christian publishers and mailed them a copy with some clever items to get them to look at it.

I was sitting in my quiet time with the Lord one morning shortly afterward and I simply asked the Lord for someone to pray for regarding the book being published.  And in my mind flew the name “Kitty”.  I wrinkled up my nose and said, “Really, that’s it? That is not even a real name like Carol or Mary or something; it was a nick-name.”  But pray I did.  My best friend gave me a Hello Kitty watch, earrings and necklace as a reminder to pray for “Kitty”.  I did not know if “Kitty” was a woman or an organization, an acronym for something or what.  I was simply to pray for “Kitty”.  I never heard God whisper the name again.

A year had gone by, it was July 2015, and was being obedient and praying for “Kitty”.  I told a few people, very few, but just enough to have some proof when my “Kitty” showed up.  I didn’t tell too many people as they might think I’d gone off my medication.

It had been just over a year later and I was checking email one day about 5:00 p.m. and I received a LinkedIn request to be connected with someone.   I had been staying away from social networks but my friend’s wife sent me a connection request.   I did not want to make her feel bad by not accepting her request, so I went on LinkedIn for the first time in about a year or more.  I was never on it very much before anyway so I wasn’t sure how to accept her invitation.  I figured it out and then I looked around a little bit at the other people it suggested I connected to.  It appeared that the majority of them were from my area. 

However, there was a name that caught my attention - Kitty Honeycutt.  I did not know her and half-heartedly I pressed something to see her profile.  Her name disappeared from my phone.  I thought, “Good, this is stupid anyway!”  I swore off all social media for the next 100 years.

Well, this is where the story gets good.  Our power went out at 10:05 p.m. due to a thunderstorm.  I picked up my phone for lack of something better to do and “Kitty Honeycutt” had accepted my invitation.  I thought, “This is exactly what I don’t like about social media, some random woman accepted my invitation to something I never intended on sending.”  And then…

I looked to see what she did for a living; it stated she was a book publisher! The name of her company is Ravenswood Publishing out of North Carolina.  I proceed to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming and stop my jaw from dropping.  Two days later I sent her a copy of my book and explained to her how I found her.  She called me a week later, and I signed a contract on July 29, 2015.  Five years to the day that I got 100% off paper and freed from the State of Wisconsin. 

This is also interesting.  I would never—and I mean never—have picked her company.  She publishes mostly fiction, New Age, mystical, fantasy, horror, alien, etc., so I asked myself, “What is God up to?”

In 1987, several months before my bipolar illness first surfaced and I became psychotic, I had gotten heavily into New Age philosophies.  I have never returned to the New Age world.  My past psychotic delusions and terror would keep me permanently away.

I talked to her on the phone and she explained that she read my book in one sitting.  She had lost a two-year-old child and she could relate to the pain I’d experienced and she has had periods of deep depression.  She was brought up in a Christian home; her grandfather was a Baptist minister.  These are the words I told her in my letter, “You would not have picked me and I would not have picked your company, but I believe with my whole heart we have a divine appointment.”

My book was supposed to be reintroduced in January 2016, or at the earliest December 2015.  I woke up to an email late in August that asked, “How does September 20, 2015 sound?”

I have watched something come full circle.  From dealing with my own insecurities of “other people’s opinions” to trusting God when He and He alone gave me a name, there is no way to explain that one away with logic.  He gave me the name “Kitty” as He knows her and He knew my need.  And the more I journey with Him I am realizing that I may just be there for her, too.  My husband, John, who is a Christian is sometimes skeptical but he cannot deny how “Kitty” came about.  John knew I was praying for this unknown person for over a year.  It is funny because Abraham and Sarah were told they would have a child and the Bible states,“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”  Romans 4:18

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not comparing myself to Abraham but you go ahead and try to explain why one day when I was praying and asking for who to pray for to publish my book I heard in my Spirit, “Kitty”.  What are the odds that there was a “Kitty” who was a publisher?  And that if she did exist that she would have anything to do with me and my book?  So my hope was not in “Kitty” but in God.  That He knew and He would direct my path to her.  And I told just enough people who would know I wasn’t making this up, and now they simply smile and have no other way of explaining it.

I think what I do right—if anything—is that I set aside time to be with God.  If you want to know your spouse better, really spending time with them would be the only way.  It is a privilege to commune with Him.  The Holy Spirit is a gentleman and will not typically shout to get your attention.  I am a firm believer that you are as close to God as you want to be.  Or at least look at it this way, you are as close to God as you make time for.

When I wrote Set Free From Darkness in 2008, I began actively looking for a publisher.  I downloaded some sort of marketing program on what steps to follow.  I followed the steps and sent out two proposals and when I was done with the second one I heard the Holy Spirit very clearly say, “That’s enough now.”  I wasn’t ready and He knew it.  As a matter of fact, one day while I was working I posed the question to Him, “What am I supposed to do about selling my book?”  And in my Spirit came the most unusual response, “What makes you think it is for this generation?”  Before I knew it I thought, “Well that is stupid who writes a book for another generation?”  And I heard in my Spirit, “What about the Bible?”  Honestly I stopped dead in my tracks and stopped arguing at that point.  He did not say my book was necessarily for another generation but I have never forgotten the question.  I think He was simply saying, “When the time is right.”

If there would have been “noise” to block out His voice, I would not have heard Him whisper Kitty’s name.  I wonder what He is trying to say to you today?









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The American Dream Attitudes

Blessed are the rich in material things

For theirs is the kingdom of this world

Blessed are those who live in suburbia

For they will be comfortable

Blessed are the strong and athletic

For they are great and better

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for good food and drink

For they and shall have unlimited choices for their bodily appetites

Blessed are those who get even

For revenge is sweet and they will remain on top

Blessed are the beautiful and successful by this world’s standards

For they are pleasing to look at and to be envied

Blessed are the ones who never back down

For they answer to no one but themselves

Blessed are the comfortable who are pampered

For God loves them more 

And they are the goal of the American Dream

Blessed are you if you want everything, striving to reach

the full potential of having it all.  Cars, Jewelry, Vacations,

Power, Designer Clothing, Yachts, Jets, Prestige, Popularity

Great Art, Wine, Electronics, Education, Mansions, Land,

being Thin, Young and Beautiful.

Think about this for a minute.  None of those things is necessarily wrong except if you take God out of it.  If God is taken out of the picture the American Dream Attitudes is what you end up with while serving yourself.

When you meet someone for the first time often the question is, “What do you do?” The answers are varied from doctor, to lawyer, to mill worker, to teacher, to student, to housewife.  One of my favorite memories of a circuit court judge is when he was asked to introduce himself in a public meeting.  He said, “I’m a born again Christian disguised as a circuit court judge.”  It was beautiful.

Suburban churches are often large, they always seem to be working on a building project of one kind or another, and there is an endless supply of young families and programs for all ages.  Here is my problem with that, they often have embraced the American Dream Attitudes.  Blessed is the feel-good, comfortable stuff.  What happens when feel good turns to injury, illness,  job loss or even death?  All of a sudden, are they no long blessed?  And you have to redefine your view of God.

In my opinion, that is what is so very dangerous about the American Dream Attitudes.  God is still God when pain and trials hit.  As a matter of fact, that is when we should rely on him more.  We sing songs in our churches about Him being the “Strong Tower” and when pain comes, He is.  But what seems to happen is that people get so immersed in the strivings of this world that when faced with a “trial, “ or even an inconvenience, they wonder where God is and why He  is allowing this and not blessing them.  In reality He does allow trials, so we grow up in Christ.  You do not grow when life is easy.  That’s how it works.   We get stretched and we grow.

Jesus said to pray for your enemies.  He did not say it so they would get worldly things.  He said it because He knew praying for your enemies would bring revelation that will result in real growth, and yes, it will likely bring some pain with it, how can it not?

The Parable of the Sower   Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23

3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear."

18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Please note verse 7 and verse 22 - Living the American Dream Attitudes will not make you lose your salvation, it simply will make you unfruitful.  Please note:  “deceitfulness of wealth”.  In my opinion that is the biggest waste of the life of a Christian there is.  What is the point of being comfortable and going to Heaven while millions of people perish?  How can you be comfortable with that?  Remember the movie The Titanic?  Those in the lifeboats were safe and all around them other passengers were drowning.  And there were empty seats in the lifeboat.  That is what I am here to tell you, study the real Beatitudes and you will see that nowhere in there did Jesus say be comfortable.  He tells me to go get them!  And the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Be one of the few.  The time is short what are you waiting for?  

Matthew 5:3-12

He said:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,

    for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek,

    for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

    for they will be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful,

    for they will be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,

    for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,

    for they will be called children of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

I personally lost the American Dream ideals long ago, when my life fell apart.  In 1987, I lost my health, my child, my home, my freedom, future children, many career choices, and my good reputation among other things.  It was replaced with an education into the science of mental illness, the introduction into the criminal justice system, and a whole lot more.  I used to say I lay flat out bleeding.  At first, and quite frankly for a lot of years, I was very angry with God for treating me so badly.  Why was I His punching bag?  Only when I embraced the path He was leading me on did new life begin.  I had to find a way to rebuild.  Rebuild I did, but not with my college education or my dream job, but with the singled-minded goal of trusting in the Lord.

 Zechariah 4:6  ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.

I pray that people stop buying what they are being sold.  I rarely watch TV but when I do I find it more and more offensive as they seem to push the boundaries of entertainment to new lows.  When you take a pot of water, put it on the stove and put a frog in it, the frog is comfortable in the water.  As the burner is turned up and the water gets hotter the frog’s body adjusts to the temperature.  Once the water is boiling the frog has lost his ability to jump out and is a party to his own death.   In the world, the “temperature” is getting hot.  If you don’t sense it remember our friend the frog.  It could be you are so immersed in it that you don’t notice. 

Nothing in the American Dream is wrong on its own.  And for my overseas friends the hopes of bettering your life is not wrong either.  What is wrong is when God is taken out of the equation and you are left with empty material possessions and a dream where you are lord. 

Now so I don’t leave you discouraged, please look at verses 8 and 23 (Bold & Italics) – That is where the payoff is.  If some can be choked out and unfruitful then others can produce a great crop for the God.

He tells us how to be fruitful and where to store our treasures.

Matthew 6:19-20

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

When I see people spending thousands of dollars on their homes and toys I think, “Really, how long are you going to be here because I for one am a foreigner on earth and this is not my final home.”  I pray we start acting more like soldiers who are in the army of God and aware of our enemy, who is not flesh and blood, and stop acting like we are on a three day pass on furlough.

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