Do you need God's Strength Today?

I woke up early this morning thinking about all that I had to do today. I sat down at my computer and opened up one of my Journeys with God called, "God, I Need Your Strength."

As I sat there I asked myself, "Can God give me the strength that I need for this day? Does He really want to give me strength for my day?" As I began my Journey with God, the words of the Bible answered my questions. YES, God will give me the strength that I need for this day.

Isaiah 41:10 (My favorite verse)
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

The Key: I need to ask Him to be my strength.

Dear God,
Please go before me today. Give me the strength I need to make it through this day. Thank you for what you are going to do.
In Jesus name, Amen.

If you are interested in going on the Journey with God called, God, I Need Your Strenth, Contact me at robinlee@hesspeakingarewelistening.com or call me at 608-334-9971.

Non-profit paperwork sent in today. Please be praying!

Special thanks to Deb

There are some new and exciting things happening on our website, http://www.hesspeakingarewelistening.com/ Check out The LISTENING Room page.

Our marketing person, Deb Foesch, http://www.debfoesch.blogspot.com/ or http://www.dfoesch.com/index.htm has designed a wonderful poster that we will be getting out to local churches. Please pray that God will lead us to the places where this poster will be placed.

We have been so blessed to have Deb join the team. She set up this blog and did our very first video recording. (You can check that out if you go back to the first posting on this blog.) She has been working on the website, designing the poster and business cards, and is working on our brochures. She is also the Editing Team Leader. She has accepted the task of helping to get all of our Journeys edited. She hopes to have that completed sometime in September.

As I was thinking about Deb, my mind went to the Proverbs 31 woman. As I read this passage it reminded me of her, but verse 17 seems to say it best.

She sets about her work vigorously;

her arms are strong for her tasks.

Deb is very busy with her own work, but somehow she finds the time to work on our projects. She will drive miles out of her way to deliver something to us. She is an amazing woman.

I would like to publicly thank Deb for all she is doing. We appreciate her so much.

Thanks Deb,
Robin

PRAYING HEART

Praying Heart

Dear God, Please give me a praying heart!
That longs to commune with you as each new day starts,
Teach me each day to make my priority prayer,
Because there’s so much with you I must share.

Dear God, Please don’t let satan tempt me to say,
I’m busy today, but tomorrow I’ll pray.
Only you know God what tomorrow will bring,
Help me to answer when my heavenly phone rings.

Dear God, teach me what a praying heart should be,
So the world can see your love in me.
My prayer, dear God, I’m sure you know,
Is that my praying heart will grow and grow!

June 19, 2009 We signed our Incorporation papers!

June 18, 2009, our Incorporation papers were sent in to a company that was going to look over everything to make sure we had completed everything the way it should be. We were praying that we would get the word very quickly that everything was correct.

On June 19, 2009, Marilyn and I met at Cancun Cafe to sign the Incorportation papers for

He's SPEAKING! Are we LISTENING? Ministries Inc. After a nice lunch, we walked out of the Restaurant and began getting into our cars. I looked over and saw Marilyn waving her arms for me to stop. I pulled my car to the side of the parking lot and got out to see what was going on. She was talking to the company who had looked at our documents on the phone and they said they were good to go.

We were so excited. We ran to each other and shouted with joy as we hugged each other. This was our little confirmation from God that we are indeed heading in the direction that He is leading.

Later that day, I drove to the post office to drop off our documents. As I pulled into my parking stall our theme song for our ministry, "Dive" by Steven Curtis Chapman, came on the radio. I was so overjoyed. That song motivates me in everything I do. Again, another confirmation of our direction.

I would like thank Marilyn for all of her hard work in putting the papers together. She's a very talented woman and I am so thankful for her. Also my son, Jeremy, Founder/CEO of Degovi Consulting, offered suggestions that were helpful as well.

We are praising God.

Now we have to trust God to provide the $1200 we will need to become a non-profit plus $1500 for start up expenses. I believe with all of my heart that God will provide. Please pray together with us for this.

Moving OUT into the Unknown

Logo created by Jeremy Gove

Isaiah 30:21
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying,

“This is the way; walk in it.”

Dear God,

Thank you for how You have been leading us in this ministry. We have so many wonderful stories of how You have brought various people to us to be responsible for areas of the ministry. This past weekend You answered another prayer about providing a lawyer to look over our documents. You brought Tom, a wonderful lawyer, to us. He looked over our incorporation papers and made a few changes and we are now set to go with this. Thank You God.

Our greatest desire is to have complete confirmation that this is Your plan. We pray that You will either confirm our call to this ministry by Friday or show us that You have other plans. We want Your will in all of this.

The next step in the process after incorporation would be to file for non-profit status. We thank You for another answer to prayer. Marilyn came across a Christian website that helps people to file for this status. The cost is around $500.00. Please God if this is Your will; please provide the money for us to finish this process within the next few weeks.

God, You are a faithful God. When You call someone to something, You will follow through and provide what is needed to accomplish the task. We are trusting You.

1 Thessalonians 5:24

The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.

If this week brings the exciting news that we are on our way to become a non-profit ministry, please provide an opportunity for us to be commissioned into this ministry.

God, the development of this ministry has been a lifetime of work. Our goal in all of this it that YOU will be glorified in all that we do. This is our prayer to YOU, that the world will see YOU through everything that is done in

He’s SPEAKING! Are we LISTENING Ministries.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

We love you!

Our PRAY and Plan time at White Lake

Marilyn and I had a great time together at White Lake PRAYING and Planning for the ministry of He’s SPEAKING! Are we LISTENING? We felt the presence of God guiding our thoughts and actions. One exciting thing we did was PRAY and Paddle. Marilyn has a paddle boat and together we paddled around the lake praying together all the way.

Here are Marilyn's thoughts about our paddling excursion:

As we paddled along God continued to illustrate lessons about our relationship with Him and each other.

While we both paddled together, the trip was fairly smooth. But we noticed how hard it was when only one of us was paddling….the strain on our muscles, the unevenness of our forward movement. That is the way it is with our walk with God. When we are on board with him, he helps us with our journey. But when we try to do it alone, it becomes difficult and frustrating.

As we paddled along, we kept thinking of different analogies of our paddle boat ride.

The wind started to pick up and the waves got higher…this made our trip slower and more difficult when we were paddling. As we were crossing the waves there were times that it seemed we were getting nowhere, but as we paddled together we got through the waves.

We decided to see what it would be like to have only one person paddle through the waves….not pleasant as now we not only had to battle the waves alone, but carry the other’s weight and work was twice as hard. We found ourselves going forward and then backward a little as the wind would catch us. That is the way life can be – but as we paddled together we continued to move forward… but when one of us stopped paddling, the other could not keep a constant forward movement. We also noticed if we approached the waves in a certain way the ride wasn’t as rough. When God is our captain, he gets us through the waves…it may be bumpy, but we know we will be able to overcome with God’s direction.

We also noticed that when we had the wind at our back….we had easy forward movement and we certainly liked this time as we could relax and put our feet up and float along the water.

We also saw God’s beautiful creation all around us…the trees, birds, flowers, fish, frogs, sky, and clouds….. then we saw the most beautiful sight……diamonds twinkling on the lake as the sun kissed the water. We were totally blessed.

There were so many illustration of God’s love on our paddle boat ride…we shall never forget.

Robin's thougths:

The most important lessons we learned on this Board retreat: Everything we do MUST begin with PRAYER. We have always believed this, but we experienced this first hand on our trip. We also realized that with one person, little can be accomplished, with two even more can be accomplished. I am so excited. We now have eight different people helping us in different ways. Can you imagine how much can be accomplished with all of us working together?

PRAY and plan…. OR…. PLAN and pray

Tomorrow Marilyn and I will be heading off to her cabin on the lake for some PRAY and plan time. As we begin to move forward in this ministry, it must be PRAY and plan, not PLAN and pray. We both realize that God is the only one that we want leading this Ministry. My prayer is that this will always be the attitude in our hearts as we begin to move out and become a ministry.

We would appreciate your prayers as we seek to hear the voice of God for His plans for this ministry. If He speaks, move forward and begin this ministry, WE WILL. If He speaks, stop and turn around, WE WILL. Our hearts are totally ready for His leading.

Isaiah 30:21
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying,

“This is the way; walk in it.”

God's Timing

When God speaks to my heart about something through the Bible, I like to underline the verse and then put the date next to it.

This past week I came across a verse that I had underlined and dated for the first time back on 7/9/87.

Psalm 27:14

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart, and wait for the Lord.

I remember distinctly that day, reading this verse for the first time. I don’t like to WAIT, so it was hard for me to realize that God wanted me to do this. Then over and over, I came back to that verse on 10/9/87, 1/26/88, 2/1/88, 10/22/88, 11/11/88, 4/16/90, 4/14/91, 5/21/91, 3/22/93, and finally on 11/10/93. Throughout all of these years, God’s timing did not appear. I believed that He was speaking to my heart to just WAIT. Looking back now, I can see why I needed to wait. I still had so much more to learn.

God’s timing is always perfect. I can see that the timing is finally right. Every single day God brings someone along who wants to learn more about our ministry. He’s bringing people along to join together with us. I could never explain to you what a blessing this has been.

Looking back, it all began back in October when God first provided an office for me. A wonderful Christian couple named Jack and Shelley allowed me to have an office in their building and in return, I could help them with some cleaning. My office was walking distance from my home. This was the beginning.

Next, in January, Jack and Shelley allowed me to use another room in their building to set up our very first LISTENING Room, which is a place for people in the community to get away and spend time with God. It was so much fun to decorate the LISTENING Room and it was even more exciting when our first person came and used it.

I would like to publicly express my deepest gratitude to Jack and Shelley for allowing me to have a place to begin. My prayer is that God will bless them abundantly for their wonderful gift to this ministry.

Over the next week I am going to share with you different people that God has been bringing to this ministry. It reminds me over and over that…..

1 Thessalonians 5:24
The one who calls you is faithful and HE will do it.

SPECIAL THANKS

Throughout my twenty-three years of learning to listen, God would always bring someone along to be just the encouragement I needed to keep me going. My family has played that role over and over again. I am so thankful for each one of them.

Then there has been another person that has been in my life for many years. Her name is Marilyn. Several years ago I shared the vision for this ministry with her. She was encouraging, but at that time, she did not feel I was ready to begin moving forward. She did not tell me this at the time, but in her heart she just knew that I was not ready. God was still working in me and looking back, He was.

The past January I felt overwhelmed with the thoughts that were swirling around in my head about He’s SPEAKING! Are we LISTENING?, The Inside Outside MAKEOVER, The Community Connection, etc., etc. Time was passing quickly and I did not know if I would ever get this all pulled together. I am a dreamer and a visionary, but pulling it all together was way out of reach for me. I prayed that God would send someone along to get this ministry off the ground, but I also knew that God’s timing is perfect.

One day in February, I was at a Prayer Committee meeting at church. We ended our session in Prayer. It was during this time that I felt an overwhelming urgency that it was time to begin moving out with all of the dreams in my heart. I had no idea how to begin and quit frankly, I was tired. I thought it would be so much easier to just turn the other way and do something completely different.

As I was pulling out of the church parking lot, my phone rang. It was Marilyn. One thing led to another and we ended up meeting at a local coffee shop. We sat and talked, or should I say, I talked. God used Marilyn in my life that day to encourage me to keep going and not to give up. I’ll never forget the words that she said to me that day. She firmly said, “Robin, you can’t give up. This is good stuff!” I needed to hear these words on this day. I left the coffee shop that day uplifted and being reminded that

1 Thessalonians 5:24
The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.

It is now four months later, and Marilyn has just completed our Ministry Manual. She is truly a gifted woman. She has been using her talents to guide us to the door of becoming a non-profit. We are walking blindly by faith, and taking one day at a time. We have no idea where the money will come from to actually become a non-profit, but we know that with God nothing is impossible.

So much has happened so quickly. My sister Sharon told me years ago, when things begin happening it will be unbelievable. UNBELIEVABLE! That is truly the word I would use to describe our feelings.

I would like to publicly thank Marilyn, my dear friend, for being there for me when I felt like quitting everything I had been working on for so long. I will cherish the memory of that day in the coffee shop. I know God has great plans for Marilyn’s life. I am honored that she has joined together with me in this ministry as Executive Administrator.

I mentioned to Marilyn that I wanted to write this and this was her humble reply:

It is nice of you to want to thank me publicly on the net...but it is God not me that deserves the thanks. When we listen to his voice we need to obey. I know it was God that prompted me to call you that day for he knew just what you needed. I certainly had no clue why but that is just like God......he picks us up just when he knows we feel like quitting. So I want to give him back the praise, as he placed me in your path that day not only to give you renewed hope and encouragement but to give me the mission to help out. As inadequate as I feel, this above any other mission has taught me to humble myself and totally rely on God's leading. I am excited to see how God will help people through this ministry and it is a blessing to be serving the Lord together.

Thanks Marilyn!
Sisters in Christ,
Robin

March 26, 1987

I remember this day so vividly. Our family was in Manila, Philippines serving as missionaries. It was a hot muggy day, as it was most days there. I was at our kid’s school, Faith Academy, which is on top of a mountain, overlooking the city of Manila.

It was on this day, I felt deep inside of me that God’s plan for my life was going to take a turn, or change in my life. I really had no idea what this might mean, but one thing I had learned throughout my life was that following God’s plan was the desire in my heart.

It’s now, 22 years later. I have spent many of those years in a learning room, discovering how to really listen to God in my life. I been waiting for the day that I could finally move out and share about all that I have learned. I know that day is around the corner.

God has begun to open doors for me to begin speaking about all that I have learned. I am humbled to be able to do this because who am I? I am just a simple person who struggles from day to day, like everyone else, trying to learn more about building my relationship with God.

As I look back, I am so thankful for my family who has stood by me all of these years. I owe anything good that comes out of my learning to them. They have helped and encouraged me over and over again. Each one of them has used their talents to help me in some way or another throughout the years. So I would like to thank them publicly in honor of who they are.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

My wonderful husband Dave of 38 years
To My Four sons, David, Jeremy Andy, Aaron
To my two Daughters in law, Stacy and Katie (and soon to be Rebecca)
To my beautiful grandchildren, Tyler, Brooke, Streme

The BOOK

I am a book, I’m all alone and I have no shelf where I can stand,
Is this the way that it should be, or is there another plan?
How I long for many, to pick me up, and read me,
But all I can do is wait and wait and maybe it will be.

Nobody knows who I am, or knows my author’s name,
But work involved in birthing me, like other books is the same.
It took many years to write and edit me; at least four editions arose,
But finally the day arrived, the final one came to a close.

Then I realized one day, it did not matter, the number who would read me,
Even if my words could help one person, how exiting that would be.
I decided that I would be happy, for the few who would open my cover,
This is a very important truth that I a book, had to discover.

One day, to my surprise my author brought me to a wonderful place,
A church library decided that I could stand up in a very special space.
They placed me on a shelf next to many other important books,
I will be thankful for one person who opens me and looks.