A Sip of Humor

During devotions with the children today I asked the question: "Why did God create Mothers?" Our 6 year old Emily sat up straight, flipped her braids and very excitedly stated: "I know! I know!" To which I replied: "Go ahead, tell us why." Her response: "God made Mothers because if there were no Mothers, life would be messed up. You could do anything you wanted to, even steal. God had way too much monkey skin left over so he had to make mothers out of that! That is why God made mothers and your monkey skin is very soft Mommy!" ((LOL)) Needless to say, we had a lesson on creation right after that! Haha

Forsaking All I Trust Him

Forsaking

All

I

Trust

Him

Oh, wow! You may be thinking who in their right mind would do that? Who would give up everything and trust God? I can think of many examples in the Bible of people who have done that and have found that the blessings that come from that kind of trust is amazing! I personally have experienced that kind of faith so I can testify to the fact that when you give it all to Christ, you won't regret it.

One of the examples of faith in the bible that really flows with this particular acronym of faith is the story of the fishermen by the seashore in the book of Matthew Chapter 4. Jesus commanded them: "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Can you imagine what must have been going through their minds? That was their only source of income and some stranger walks up to them and says, "Leave your job and come with me! I guarantee you that if you do, you'll win many over to my Kingdom!" What a leap of faith it took for these poor fishermen to leave their way of life and follow Jesus. What great and mighty things they did and saw as a result of their obedience. They got to witness firsthand the miraculous touch of the creator of the universe as he healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out evil spirits etc. They became part of his chosen 12!

Here are are a few facts about these fisherman:

1. They were poor men: if they had had estates, or any considerable stock in trade, fishing would have been their recreation not their occupation. It didn't matter to Jesus that they were poor, when He saw them he saw the potential they had to become great leaders for his Kingdom. He is no respecter of persons. He will choose to use and bless those who are willing to step out in faith! Rich or poor, all it takes is a willingness empty ourselves of self and become a vessel for God to flow through touching the lives of those around us.

2. They were unlearned men, not exposed to books or literature as Moses was. He had the opportunity in Egypt to be taught by the best. He lived in the kings palace! It didn't matter to God that these fishermen were uneducated. He knew that if they had faith, they would trust Him enough to give them the right words to say at the right time through the Holy Spirit. God isn't looking for those who want to impress others with their degree's or successes in life. He desires that no matter if we are uneducated or educated, that we will allow Him to speak through us.

3. They were men of business, who knew their trade inside out and wasn't afraid of hard labour. God isn't looking for lazy people to further his kingdom here on earth, he desires that we be motivated with a goal and a vision. Pressing toward the mark of the high calling of God. After all, we are his hands and feet in this world. It should be our mission to show Christ to everyone you meet.

4. They were men that were accustomed to hardships and hazards. Becoming a fisherman is one of the most laborious and perilous jobs around. Fishermen must be often wet and cold; they must watch, and wait, and toil. They were often in perilous waters constantly being exposed to danger and near death experiences. God is looking for those of us that have learned to bear hardships and be exposed to dangers that bring us courage as we trust in Him. It is those type of people that are prepared for the fellowship and discipleship of Jesus Christ. Good soldiers of Christ must endure hardness. What a lesson we can learn from this story when you begin to reflect on how much faith it took for them to follow Jesus that day.

Lately, I've been reading and studying a lot on faith in my own personal devotions. Hebrews chapter 11 is a great passage of scripture on faith. I quote it often when I want to encourage someone to increase their faith or to reach out in faith for the answers they desire from God. The first verse talks about how "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Verse 2 goes on to say "For by it the elders obtained a good report." You will notice as you read go on to read the rest of this chapter that a lot of victories came through great faith of many men and woman in the Bible.

The beauty of it is that it doesn't take much faith to move the hand of God. Just the size of a grain of mustard seed! A mustard seed is pretty tiny! I encourage you today to have faith in God! Go where he is leading you. It doesn't necessarily mean you'll be leaving your current job or the area you live like the fishermen in the Bible did. It does mean that your priorities will change as you begin to obey God, putting him first in your life as he leads you into his will. Take that step towards the place he is calling you. Beyond the open door awaits a work that only you can do and with it comes a new and fresh anointing on your life. Be encouraged and have faith. It will move those mountains that stand in your way!

Matthew 17:9

And Jesus said unto them, ...

"If ye have FAITH of a grain of mustard seed

Ye shall say unto this mountain,

Remove hence to yonder place,

And it shall remove and

NOTHING shall be

impossible unto you!"

Just a tiny grain.........

No matter what..... Have Faith!

Don't Let the Devil Steal Your Song

Wow! What a title! "Don't Let the Devil Steal Your Song!" I can't take credit for it though. I heard as a sermon title the first night at Music Camp this past summer. As soon as Bro. Jeff Saunders said it, I was overwhelmed and tears welled up in my eyes. Just those words alone were enough to encourage me and heal some of the hurt I had experienced recently. I begin to feel God speaking to my heart as Bro. Saunders begin to minister to the campers and staff. I knew his message was God-given and it was for me. The timing just couldn't be better and God touched me deeply that night. I determined that no matter what, I wasn't going to let the devil steal my song.

Just before camp started, I had gotten extremely hurt by someone very dear to me. I truly believe that this individual has no clue just how deeply they hurt me because I tried to brush it off and not give them any indication that it bothered me. I decided I was going to just give it to God and go on, not changing how I treated this person. I forgave them and left it in God's hands. However, I did vow that I would never sing again, something I had been doing my whole life. Isn't it just amazing how God works? He had plans for me and my music ministry, the enemy knew it and tried to discourage me so much so that it almost worked! For this to be the first sermon preached just after this happened, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt God wanted me to know that he had given me a song and I needed not to allow the enemy to steal it. All the scriptures spoken with Bro. Saunders sermon, the story he told about how the canary who had a beautiful voice and sang every day got sucked up in a vacuum cleaner. It wouldn't sing anymore but through love and care of it's owner it finally broke out into a song again. Everything he said, spoke volumes to my soul! I am so thankful that he was sensitive to what God wanted for that service. I thank God every day for Music Camp because I believe it was the launching pad to my singing ministry. I am still overwhelmed at all that has happened since then! To God be ALL the glory!

In the middle of the week of Music Camp one of our local gospel radio stations, CJRI sent a DJ up to record a promotion for the camp. This DJ requested that someone record a song, a piano solo, etc to showcase some of what we had learned. I was asked to record a song and I immediately said no! I was extremely hesitant and even though God had touched me greatly on Sunday night I felt I just needed more time before I sang again; let alone have it recorded. Truthfully, I was scared to 'put myself' out there. It's always been one of my dreams and goals to record a gospel CD and normally I would have jumped at the chance to record a song but after getting hurt like I did, I felt that I wasn't ready. Surely they could find a better singer than I to record a song for the promotion. God reprimanded me saying, "It's time to stop burying your talent in the sand, I want to turn your misery into a ministry!" With the persistence of the Music Director at camp and others I reluctantly recorded a Joel Hemphill song called, "Consider the Lilies" Camp went on with some great services and since I was staying there as Staff for the full month of July, I quickly forgot about the song I recorded.

In August, I found out that the station was still playing the song I recorded. Apparently, after the first time it played over the airwaves calls came pouring in to request it to be played over and over. I was shocked! I couldn't believe it! What was even more unbelievable to me, was the fact that it was the number one most requested song of a local artist for 14 weeks breaking a record at the station! It wasn't long before family and friends who live far away heard about this and they wanted to hear it. Again, I was reluctant to share it with anyone but they insisted so I made it into a video and posted it on Facebook. The comments and e-mails came pouring in non-stop to me.

There is one story I want to share here. It's about a lady who had walked away from God years ago, she heard my song when it was posted on facebook. While listening to it she could feel God's presence, it made her cry and she relized that God still cares for her. She made the decision to turn her life around and serve God after all those years of being away from him. She thanked me over and over for posting my song. I was so humbled and it made everything I had gone through so very worth it! To God be ALL the glory as to what he has done with that song. I often joke with people who thank me, telling me they were ministered to after hearing me sing that I just want to be a vessel for God's presence to flow through even though I am slightly cracked! In all seriousness though, it's ALL because of God and his anointing he has placed on my life.

I was even hesitant to blog about this because I don't want to appear to be promoting myself or bragging. I am just so excited about the blessings that God has poured in my life about it that I want to share it in hopes that it will encourage a reader who is struggling with what God wants them to do with their life. When God opens a door wide, hold your head high and walk through it. You won't regret it. Sure people will criticize and point fingers but if your heart is right and your doing it for the Lord; you will be able to forgive them and not allow it to ruin your relationship with them. I never dreamed that the song would even be played on the radio again! The purpose of it was only to promote the camp. Recently, it was voted as part of the Top 20 songs of the year 2010. In January, I was the recipient of an award for it placing #2 runner up song of the year in the Top 20 by popular vote of the listeners of CJRI Faithway Radio Network. To God be ALL the glory for that!

Unbelievable! To top it all off on new years day, I was given a free one year membership to the Maritime Gospel Music Association (MGMA) http://www.mgma.ca/ They promoted me as artist of the month for January! Again, I have to say, To God be ALL the glory! People are disappointed when they realize I haven't recorded a CD yet but that is in the works and will be released in God's time. I've already had a consult at a recording studio and are weighing all my options. I have been traveling around locally taking part in different gospel concerts throughout our area. To me, this is a ministry. I take it very seriously want to stay in tune with what God wants for me in this area of my life. I don't do it for awards or promotion and definitly not for entertainment. I do it for God! I truly believe there are lost and hurting people who need to be ministered to. Music is such a universal language that it can reach into the depths of a persons heart, soothing the emotional pain they are in. Everyone loves music of some genre but music that comes from God is the most powerful of all! I thank God everyday for all these blessings he's given me. I feel so undeserving of it all and I'm very humbled that He would even use me.

To everyone who has supported me and encouraged me so far through out this journey I am on, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I couldn't have done it without you. Your prayers and your sound advice have kept me grounded. To the staff and the listeners of the CJRI stationhttp://www.cjri.fm/ and to those who voted for me, I thank you! To the staff of MGMA and all the local artists, thank you for everything! I sure do appreciate the support and encouragement you've given me as a new artist. To my family and close friends, I love you more than anything. Thank you for being there for me through the laughter and tears! You guys are my rock and I appreciate you so very much! Don't stop praying for me! Above all, I want to thank God who is my Saviour, my Healer, my Redeemer, my Provider and Best Friend. All the praises, all the glory belong to Him! He is so good and as long as he is on my side, I don't need to worry about the devil stealing my song!

To God Alone be the Glory

To God Alone be the Praise
Everything I say and Do

Let it be All for you

The Glory is yours Alone

Yours Alone

~Aaron Shust

Psalm 13: 6

"I will sing unto the Lord because

He hath delt bountifully with me!

Be Still

Be still! Only 2 words yet they can be so powerful when spoken by an authoritative command to a restless toddler, a noisy teenager or a misbehaving child at church. Sometimes they listen right away and obey, other times they ignore it and go right on doing what they shouldn't be doing. We have 7 people living here in Storeyland and believe me it can get pretty noisy at times. The children often try to overpower each other and when one starts to get loud it isn't long before the other 4 are trying to add more volume and next thing you know you can't hear what anyone is saying because it's just babble. Eventually, one of us has to say "Be still!" or "Be quiet" reminding them to use their manners and wait for their turn to talk. Sometimes, I just want to run away from all the noise and I'm sure Hubby feels that way at times too. We treasure those quiet moments with our children when we can really get to know them in a deeper way. It is something we do not want to take for granted. You know we are often like our children when it comes to our relationship with our heavenly Father. We don't always listen and often have a hard time being still.

One warm wintry morning recently, I was watching the children wait for the bus. For some reason, they were being very quiet. The photo you see with this post was one I took later that day. I couldn't resist adding the scripture on it that God spoke to me. The sun was rising up casting it's golden glow over our front yard and I begin to reflect on the goodness of God. I was thinking about how much I wanted to get to know him more. I've been serving God for over 20 years now yet I still want to go deeper in my relationship with him. Psalms 46: 10 immediately came to mind! "Be still and know that I am God!" I realized in my busy life I needed to find more time to just be still and allow God to work on some area's of my life that I had been neglecting. I needed to shut out the noise of the world and all the other distractions around me so I could hear that still small voice speaking to my heart. It's so easy in this day and age to be distracted. It makes me wonder, does God ever get lonely for us? Just to give him our undivided attention.

With technology today, the whole world is at our fingertips robbing us of the time we once had just to fellowship face to face with God and with other people. I am a people person, and I love Facebook. I usually leave it running all day, checking periodically for messages. I book my photography appointments through it and rely on it a lot for communication. It's a great way to connect with long lost relatives and friends. I have a lot of family and friends that live far away and I truly believe that if God were here on earth. He'd join Facebook just so he could communicate with some of us! It's so easy to get caught up in catching up with everyone on that site. This year, I am trying also to have a balance to not only catch up with them there but actually invite them over for a meal, or go out for a coffee with them, visiting them or doing a fun activity with them. I don't want to loose that 'old fashioned' fellowship with people I hold close. Personally, I refuse to go on Facebook while I am in the house of God to worship him and be fed by his word. I've often wondered what I would do if I were on Facebook during a church service and God actually wrote on my wall like he did on the wall of the kings palace in the old testament! "Hey, I miss my time with you. I love you so much! Can't you even set aside a couple of hours for me? After all, YOU came to MY house to visit ME! Get off of Facebook and worship me! Then you can go home, update your status and tell of the miracles I performed in your life today, or the prayers that I answered. Maybe you can also share the blessing you got or the healing I gave you with your friends online!" Wow, I think I would probably feel bad that I was choosing to catch up with my friends instead of catching up with God. It certainly makes you think doesn't it? Please don't be offended if your reading this blog and you use Facebook in church. This is a personal conviction I have and I just felt to share it because it goes along with this post. God's been dealing with me on a personal level when it comes to being still and knowing that he is God.

I am reminded of a story I heard one time about a young lady who God woke up out of a deep sleep at the crack of dawn and compelled her to go outside. She obeyed but wondered why God would want her to do that. She just couldn't see any purpose in it. The sun begin to rise and as she watched the sky explode in to gorgeous colors, she heard a still small voice say, "Thank you for watching the sunrise with me today, I may be God but I still get lonely to spend time with my children." I really do believe that God hungers for us to give him our undivided attention. I have learned that when I do that, I am amazed by the things I learn from his word and even at times I can hear him speak to me with so much love. If it's been a while since you've shut in with God in a secret place, I encourage you to do that. Don't allow the cares of this life to become so loud that they drown out his voice. He loves you and he misses you! He is waiting with arms opened wide for you to come to him. All he wants is for you to be still and to know that he truly is your God!

"Let all those that seek thee, rejoice and be glad in thee;

and let such as love thy salvation say continually,

Let God be Magnified!"

Psalm 70:4

Storeyland News

Yay! Alex finally lost his tooth!

Anyone that's been following my blog knows

that the Twins were in a competition as to who

would be the first one to loose their FIRST TOOTH!

Emily was the winner, she lost hers in November

much to Alex's dismay. He tried everything he could

to loose his tooth first, from tying a string on it and yanking

to eating apples nonstop and finally, a couple of days after

Christmas his hard work payed off. He was so excited that

he had to call as many people as he could think of

to let them know!

Christmas 2010

Dear Family and Friends:

Christmas 2010 was the most unusual Christmas The 7 Storey's have ever encountered. In the hustle and bustle of Chrismas programs, shopping and preparing for the holidays, our province experienced an unusual rain storm! When we should have been dumped upon by huge piles of snow here in the North, we were instead being soaked with torrents of rain all over the Maritimes. There was flash flooding in several different area's and unfortunately it hit home, literally. I had actually started a blog post right before Christmas, but never got the chance to finish it so I decided to just post a new one.

We had gotten so much rain that our basement flooded badly. It destroyed our furnace, hot water tank, our Tristar vacuum cleaner among other house hold items. Some things were sentimental and just can't be replaced. It was difficult mourning the loss of those things but that's exactly what they were, things. Due to the mild temperatures, we were ok at home for a few days. We only had a couple of small heaters as a source of heat. We huddled around them in the living room but as the temperatures dropped lower, we were forced to move out and live in a hotel for a few days until a furnace arrived. Through it all, despite the fact things were in chaos and it was so close to Christmas, I was so thankful that we were safe and alive. It could have been so much worse. My cousins who live about an hour away ended up with over 5 ft of water in their homes and now are homeless as the flood destroyed all of their things. Currently, as I write this, my brother is still living in a hotel waiting for repairs on his home due to flood damage that was discovered after Christmas. My cousins are still dealing with the uncertainty of their situations as well. I ask that you keep these flood victims among many more in your thoughts and payers because a lot of people lost everything during what should have been the most joyous holiday of the year. We were fortunate to get home 2 days before Christmas and were scrambling at the last minute to get things prepared for our 5 children. I have to say, that it never ceased to amaze me how God provided and took care of my family through this disaster.

When funds were low and we only had one gift to give to each child as Christmas Day drew closer, God provided. When I wasn't sure if I'd get any baking done for company, God provided. When we weren't sure how the children were going to get from the little town we were staying in, to the country where their school was due to one vehicle, God provided. When we didn't know where our next meal would come from or snacks for the children's lunch, God provided! When we thought we'd have to take care of all the damages all on our own, God provided. I could list many examples of how God came through for us as we were tossed to and fro from all of this. He definitely is our JEHOVAH JIRAH... OUR PROVIDER! I want to say again to all of our Angels who helped us during this difficult time of our life a huge THANK YOU! We love and appreciate you all. Our prayer is that God blesses you abundantly for your giving. I love how we can depend on God to move in any given situation and lean on his word. We certainly held on to these scriptures:

Psalms 37: 23-26

23. The steps of a man are established by the Lord when he delights in his way

24. Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, the Lord upholds his hand

25. I have been young and now I am old yet I have not seen his righteous forsaken nor his children begging for bread.

26. He is ever lending generously and his children become a blessing.

If you are currently facing a disaster of your own, I encourage you to lean on these promises. God will provide and he does have a plan. He cares! One of my favorite quotes is "Sometimes He calms the storm and other times he calms his child. You can have peace but it only comes when you begin to be thankful for your situation and start trusting that he is going to work it all out for the greater good.

When the children told us this was the best Christmas ever, all I could do is weep. It touched my heart deeply to see them wrapping up some of their toys for other young flood victims who lost everything! We truly saw the spirit of giving this Christmas Season every where we went and our lives were changed because of it.

I remember one particular day, I had the girls with me at the mall. I had some pocket change so I told them I'd get them a hot chocolate and treat myself to a coffee. We were standing in line behind a sweet little lady that has taken a shine to our family. She lives in a seniors complex and has no family here. They all live over sea's. She was using a Tim Horton's Gift Card to pay for her coffee. The girl waiting on her informed her that there was nothing left on it. My daughter looked at me and said exactly what I was thinking, "Mommy, lets buy her drink" I smiled and took the last $10 out of my wallet. I believe that God compelled me to reload her gift card. My girls eyes got huge because they were aware of our flood situation and that funds were extremely tight, however I didn't hesitate. Not only did I want to obey God but I wanted to show them that it is more blessed to give than to receive. I used it as a teachable moment. You should have seen them a couple of day's later when I opened a Christmas card and inside more than double the amount I gave this dear lady plus a Tim's Card with the exact amount I gave her on it! To them it was a complete miracle and greatly increased their faith in God. So, I encourage you... give if you can and trust God because he will see you through. If he did it for us, he'll do it for you because He is no respecter of persons. He treats us all the same and loves us beyond what we could ever imagine.

GOD IS ALWAYS ON TIME AND HE IS GOOD!!!

We got to visit with family and spent the rest of our holidays, doing some flood aftermath clean up. We also got to spend some time with my precious Mother who was really missing Dad this Christmas. Dad was out west due to work and wasn't able to come home. As I mentioned earlier, it was the most unusual Christmas ever but I echo what my children said... It was also the BEST one ever!!

Love and Prayers;

The 7 Storeys