faith

At the Scent of Jesus

| Laura Lee Bonde

What happens when you cut God off? I think I found out.

Yesterday morning, on my way to work, I was worshiping God and wondered where He would have me go at lunch. I heard the word ‘down.’ Immediately, I thought of walking down the street towards downtown and didn’t like that idea, so I ignored it, until later.

Continue reading →

God Knit Me for Today

| Laura Lee Bonde

Wow! That could be a title for any day, but it sure has a special meaning for me today. Before I opened my eyes, before I woke up, I heard ‘Happy Birthday’ from God. I love God so much, and how much He’s changed me is miraculous! I’m glad He made me, saved me, restored me, loved me on purpose.

Throughout the years, different dates have grabbed my attention: my sobriety date, my born again date, etc, but this year, my birth date is more precious to me than any of those. I’ve thought about God’s purpose, and what I mean by that is that He created me on purpose. He chose the twenty-first of January as my entrance into the world. Even more so than that, He chose the mother to knit me inside of: Denise Holt.

Mom, thank you for being a vessel of God’s love. I am so glad that God chose you, that God chose your womb, as a secret place for me to be formed in. In you, He created my laugh. In you, He created my heart that loves so deeply. In you, He created my smile with an everlasting joy in His heart. In you, He created me, and I am so glad He chose YOU to be my mommy. I wish all my friends could meet you. I wish I could see you. I miss you. I love you. And I’m determined to wrap my arms around you this year. I don’t know “how” it will happen. I just know it WILL.

Hoping for a House Call

| Laura Lee Bonde

Yesterday in the park, God just brought people to me. I don’t know why it amazes me every time. It’s so His Character. He wants people to experience His nonjudgmental Love.

As soon as I sat down, I met a woman named Sandy. She was from Oakland (naturally blessed because she’s a Raiders fan). We began talking about her dog, her visit, her kids, and I told her what I do in the park daily. She liked that. Then, she opened up.

She told me that just the other day, she woke up with the thought that she’s wasted her life, that she hadn’t done well with the time that God had given her. I spoke into her heart how much God loves her, and that it’s never to late. When I asked if she’d like prayer for anything, she mentioned her son, who has an incurable sickness going on. Guess where he lives? Imperial Beach. I offered to go to him to pray over him. She said in surprise, “You’d do that?” I said, “Of Course!” She took my phone number for him. I hope he calls.

After I prayed for her, a homeless man named Dan came up. He was commenting on Sandy’s dog. I asked him questions about his life, his homelessness, his dog. At one point, he served our country oversees. As he was sharing, he stated that it was most important for him to feed his wife, his dog, and then himself. He showed me the food he’d found in the dumpster. He said, “People throw away perfectly good food all the time.” I offered him the candy canes I had in my pocket, but he said he needed to watch his figure.

He let me know where they sleep in the park. I’ll be walking with a friend today, so I’ll see if we can go visit them. God is so good! He loves so deeply, so uniquely. I love that he always has me around dogs. He’s softening my heart towards them, and it’s working.

Jehovah Jireh

| Laura Lee Bonde

Every year, my ex-husband helps me out financially to buy the kids gifts (and pay bills). This year, I had the feeling I spent a little extra. See, I don’t balance a checkbook because there isn’t much to balance. I don’t have any debt. I don’t have any credit cards. I own my car, so all of my income goes for the general bills, rent, food, gas, and what I bring in is less than what I pay out. That’s why I make and sell worship flags.

…back to overspending. The first is just around the corner, so I should’ve really been checking my bank account balance, but you know…sometimes it’s easier NOT to look. When I look, fear seems to creep in. When I don’t look, trust keeps a hold of me, so I hadn’t looked. Here was my plan: I’ll look AFTER the dump; that way, whatever money I had would seem like a fortune. Well, I decided not to look.

On Friday, I came home to give Katie a ride to work. As she sat down to drive, I asked, “Did the mail come?” She said, “Yeah.” I asked, “Was there a check?” She said, “No. Were you expecting one?” I said, “No. I NEED one though.” …no comment.

Yesterday, Katie brings the mail up, hands me an envelope, and says, “Maybe it’s your check.” I opened it, and guess what was inside? …A CHECK FOR $300!! It was a gift from a woman in Florida whom I had eaten breakfast with earlier in the year. I’ve only met her once, but we’ve kept in contact. This was the second time her and her husband had sent me money in response to God’s beckoning: Jehovah Jireh!

Do you know what the neatest part is? Now, the kids expect it. I love that they are growing up seeing God provide for us over and over again. Now, we’ll have enough for rent, and I just ordered more material to make more flags. God is so amazing! Jesus is so personal! Holy Ghost is always listening! Yay, God!