Carol and I had a very good anniversary yesterday. Thank you to all those who called, emailed, texted and sent messages on FaceBook or Twitter. We truly love you all. Carol, Kyle and I got to go out to eat to what I think is my favorite place to eat even though its a bit fancy. Holding pinky out here :) - Cajun Queen has got to be the cutest little place in Charlotte and the food it amazing. As you can tell by the name, its Cajun which means it has some heat in it. I like that. There in the upper room, a little 3 old man band was playing, a little drums, a little bass guitar and cutest old gentleman I have ever seen playing the piano. He was all crunched over and his arms didnt have to move much to have his hands on the keys and he just played. No notes. No sheet music. Nothing. Pretty awesome stuff as he played and smiled. You could just tell this man was at peace and enjoyed so much what he was doing.
I am sad to say that the tragedy yesterday in Boston played a big part in our day as with any tragedy like this, it really reminds us that life can turn in a moment. Thinking about 24 years of marriage and praying for another 24 years. Its humbling knowing that, especially at my age, that life has its major turns, battles and scars. My heart pours out to the folks in Boston and I just cant fathom why and how there is so much hatred in the world. I am comforted knowing that Christ is already at work in that area in the hearts of his people.

Yesterday during my quiet time as I am going through my YouVersion Bible reading plan in a year - I am in 2 Kings 5 and I came across this as it really came to life for me. I hope it comes to life for you in some way.

2 Kings 5

The Healing of Naaman

5 The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the Lord had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy.^[a]

² At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid. ³ One day the girl said to her mistress, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.”
⁴ So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said. ⁵ “Go and visit the prophet,” the king of Aram told him. “I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel.” So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold,^[b] and ten sets of clothing. ⁶ The letter to the king of Israel said: “With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.”
⁷ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, “This man sends me a leper to heal! Am I God, that I can give life and take it away? I can see that he’s just trying to pick a fight with me.”
⁸ But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to him: “Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel.”
⁹ So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”
¹¹ But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! ¹² Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.
¹³ But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir,^[c] if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” ¹⁴ So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child’s, and he was healed!
¹⁵ Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”

I know the scripture is a bit long but its important to have the before and after from verse 12 and 13. See Naaman wanted to be cleaned from his leprosy. He was a mighty warrior, many killed in battles, a leader and people looked up to him and followed him but he had a major problem. He was sick. He had leprosy and it was probably hard to lead people in battle, to give commands to people and probably lots of them since he was the commander of the army. So he desperately wanted to be healed. So he went to see the prophet Elisha who would heal him but when he went, Elisha sent him away telling him to go wash in the Jordan. Naaman was furious. He wanted to be healed right then. He didnt want to do his part, follow directions or orders in army terms. He thought the waters of the Jordan were not different than other river waters and he had already tried all that and still he was infected. So after his officers spoke to him, reasoned with him, he went and did what Elisha told him to do. There ya go .... all clean. Skin like a baby. 

How often do we look for the big things in our lives when we should be paying attention and more importantly doing, the little things? We need a cure for something today but we refuse to go to the doctor. We need a miracle in our finances but we keep on spending. We are not happy in our relationship or marriage but refuse to sit down and work at it. We want our kids to make good choices but we dont show them a good example or invest more time with them. So often we need to listen to the people in our lives. We need to seek out our godly friends that God has placed in our lives and seek their advice. We need their counsel because they wont steer us wrong. Maybe we dont because we honestly, want to do things our way. We want to do the things we want to do regardless if it brings healing, hope, restoration. We know what they are going to tell us and that is honestly what we dont want to do. So we dont ask. We buy the house we cant afford. We rent the car that is too expensive and we get stuck even further with monthly bills. We go to the other college because boyfriend or girlfriend goes there.

I bet if we each take a look around at the godly folks in our lives today. You will have some. Maybe today, would be a good idea, to call them, text them or send them an email to thank them first but more importantly to set up some coffee time and share. Open up a little, seek some advice on that thing that you are struggling with. Lighten the yolk up a little and let this godly friend pour some wisdom into you. It may take only 10 seconds of courage to do it. Do it anyway...... 

Like the officers, they spoke to Naaman, reminded him to do the little things and stop looking for the big thing that is going to make a huge difference. Your miracle that you need today may just be a listening ear away. Stay obedient in the small things, the big things will work out to.

Love you all,
Lonnie~