beckymae1955's Xanga

What really matters

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:46:57 GMT

We get soooo busy on the mundane things of life and we forget what really matters. Those of you who are workaholics, and those who are trapped in the fast lane of life, slow down a little bit and smell the coffee. Stop and look into the eyes of the people that matters most to you. Tell them you love them because you might not have the next minute, or hour, or weeks or months or even years to tell them so. But most of all make sure that you are in the center of God's will and serving Him His way and not your way!

Grateful

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:58:04 GMT

Every time I wake up in the morning, I am just plain grateful that God has given me another day to serve Him. We have a drawing of a clock in a poster board at the mission. And below it, I encouraged my ladies to put their names and the time of the day they usually pray. And everyday, I ask the Lord to specially bless them. I told them that we need to oil the Lord's work with prayer. We need to water our hearts with God's word for spiritual growth.

This coming Sunday, we will celebrate our 5th Year Anniversary at the mission. The Lord has provided the land and we are already meeting at the make shift building temporarily until God provides for the building. But praise the Lord we will raise the wall on the left side to give it more protection.

To see the growth with my ladies is such a blessing. Through these past years, I have been drilling them on the practicality of Christian living. Doctrine is not enough. knowledge without love really is just an annoying noise! An empty dry heart has nothing to give. We studied the book "Created To Be a Helpmeet" by Debbie Pearl. Whew! Did that raise some ire! Not too bad, really:) I knew it will be received better if If God will prepare their hearts first. So I taught them first on becoming a vessel that God could use. I used a book by Donna Partow. I keep drilling them on forgiveness. They are naturally very sensitive. They can get offended easily and will either hide it behind a smile or totally position themselves on the other side of the aisle! They hardly have never heard of confrontation. Confrontation usually comes in the form of World War III. That means grievances piled up through the years. I have known of people in the mountain that they will douse themselves with cold water to cool their heads because of extreme anger! People have been known of passing out or even dying because of anger!

I am grateful for the work of Art that God is doing in the hearts of our people. He is still working on all of us but definitely spiritual growth that can be seen and felt.

I am grateful for God's miraculous healing on behalf of our son, Rodney II. As some of you know that he surrendered to preach last year in June. They decided to move to Ohio so he could study in the Bible Institute. They were already doing every thing to get them ready to move. They are already lining up people to rent the house that they were living in. But come November 16, of 2008, our son had a near-fatal motorcycle accident. The back brakes failed and he went through the stop sign to be ran over and dragged for about 100+ yards. (You can find the full story at www.rodneyspears.org ). God saw fit to not only remold his heart but also his body! God wants him to give him the glory in everything that he does. He loves to run, but God has broken his knees and ankle and severed all the nerves for his left leg! He was an instructor for hand-to-hand combat but his body was broken in more than 20 places! He was a sniper for the army but God took his right eyesight! He may never run the way he used to but he will run the raise for our God! He will never instruct hand-to-hand combat but he will be God's instructor in hand-to-hand spiritual battle! He may never regain the eyesight, but he definitely will have the spiritual eyesight in the things of God! I still have my son, and I am forever grateful!

I am grateful that through this accident my 2 girls are more sensitive in the things of the Lord. Their hearts are a lot tender in spiritual things. I can talk to them about how great the Lord is without feeling the invisible wall slowly building up! My youngest son accepted Christ as his Savior because of the accident. He saw his brother's faith through all of it and saw God's hands actively working in the life of the people he touched. He decided, he wanted the same Lord that his brother has! What a great God we have!

I am grateful for my husband that he is serving God. I am grateful every time I see how much he loves his people and how much they love him. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve alongside with him. Yes, there were hard times. My biggest personal challenge is missing my children and grandchildren. But God is good and I always ask Him to love them double for me.

I am grateful, very grateful for the salvation God has wrought in my soul! The privilege to serve, and for my family. God has been so good to me, my heart is overflowing with thanks. I can still go on:) but my son is asking for breakfast........so till next time.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:54:49 GMT

This is an update to my sons' recuperation progress as told by my husband!

I got home from services and talked to my son, Rodney. He was telling me about his knee progress. His goal was to be able to bend it up to 140 degrees, although the knee specialist predicted that he would probably only get to about 120 degree movement. Never the less, Rodney and his physical therapist kept working. . .He told me as he got to 120 degrees and beyond that he would get so sick to his stomach and about pass out. That was a daily, expected occurrence. Then, this past week, as they were working, the therapist told him that he was at 130 degrees . . and Rodney thought she was mistaken because he had no pain. Then, she moved it on to 140, and still no pain. From one day to the next, the pain left. He went back to his knee specialist, and the doctor could not believe it!!

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!

REBEKAH

Your Circle of Acquaintance

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 12:30:25 GMT

John 1:40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
John 1:41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
John 1:42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
John 1:43 The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.
John 1:44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
John 1:45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Each one of them had their own circle of acquaintance. Each one reached out and shared their Messiah. Our testimony affects everyone in our own circle. I believe that Andrew showed excitement when he told Simon Peter about Jesus. If he was not convinced himself, I don’t think Simon Peter would have come to Jesus that time. Our attitude shows what and who is reigning in our hearts. Yes, we are in the stage drama of life. People cannot see our hearts, but they see how we act and they hear how we talk. We must be careful what we let people see in us. What is in our hearts will always somehow manifests itself. Prov. 4:23 It is of utmost importance that we walk close to God and let Him shine his righteousness upon us.

My thoughts - New Mission point

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:06:56 GMT

Last night was our first time in our new mission point. We will meet once a week with them and then another brother will be with them for the other services and activities while we keep working at our other mission point.

Hijos de Luya is the name of this place. It is poverty stricken, drug ridden and a lot of witchcraft going on. Gang members have staked out their territories and thievery is a common occurence. Those of you who frequent the throne of grace of our Savior and Lord, we covet your prayers. We need to be prayed up to be able to work in this place.

Last night there were 33 in attendance and three of those were known thieves. One thing I noticed, they all cleaned up before they came. Not that it mattered but I saw that they have respect enough for the place and the service. I thought that was good. My husband preached a very clear salvation message. What a blessing to see changed lives in this dark place! God can surely do it. I thank God for the privilege of serving Him.

John 6:14
Jesus always went about to meet the material or physical needs of the people. Apart from His spiritual concern for them, he also showed them He also cared for their earthly afflictions.

For some people, they need to be alleviated just enough of some pain to be able to think about other things...... like spiritual things. They need to see and to know that someone really cares for them and that they are not alone. The exciting part of this is, once they put their complete trust on the Lord, earthly things, earthly sufferings; as long as they walk close with the Lord, can manifest itself not as evil but for the good. Rom. 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Sadly, the following verse of course showed us that they got stuck with earthly things. But who knows, God’s word will not return unto Him void. Is. 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

John 6:6-11

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 12:31:50 GMT

Studying God's Word is very exciting. I want to share them with you.

John 6:6
God will test our faith.
John 6:7
Right away, Phillip looked into his mathematical ability and figured what was needed to solve the problem. Honestly that was good because he saw his limitation. His problem was, he stopped there. He had been with Jesus, saw Him perform miracle after miracle, but He did not even think about looking to Him to supply this need. All he saw was the impossible.

John 6:9
Andrew right away looked to find what they had and found it very much lacking.
John 6:10
Phillip and Andrew should have outrightly realized that “Feeding the Five Thousand” was not a problem for Jesus.

Jesus was very patient with them. He allowed them to assessed the problem. They discussed the problem with Jesus. That was great. What was lacking was they did not see that the problem was not really a problem because the problem solver was right there with them.

But the great thing about this scene was, the disciples obeyed Jesus inspite of the lack of sight of the blessing of provision.

John 6:11
This is exciting! Jesus started to bless with the provision after the disciples obeyed.

We do not wait for provision to start on our obedience. Because provision does not come before obedience.

If we want to see great things happen in our ministries and in our lives, let God worry about the provision. He will never run out of tracks where He wants to send you. And as you go, you will see that He keeps adding a cabboose of tools and provision to complete the task He has for you. It is His work let Him worry about it. All you do is obey and follow His instructions. Follow the Traffic Lights of Service.

Red - Stop - Fuel up with His Holy Spirit for energy and strength. Let the oil of His word permeates every part of you. Let the water of the scriptures wash your heart and mind, clear the cobwebs of little hidden sins.
Yellow - Caution - Examine your relationship with Him to be able to stand the wear and tear of the journey. Make sure that you have the the Whole Armor of Faith to withstand the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11
Green - G0 - You are ready. You have God’s peace in your heart to start your engine, GO.

God bless you all today.

Thank you all

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 12:16:19 GMT

We are back in Peru. We arrived on the 29th of January. I am happy to be back and praising God that He allowed us to come back with a full heart.

Thank you all that have prayed for my son, Rodney. The Lord has worked a great miracle not only in his body as he is healing from his motorcycle accident, but in how God has been molding his heart for His service. You will not see the whole picture unless you know the whole story of his accident and that how God used it for His glory

I have stopped blogging about his accident and recuperation since his website was put up to direct people that were interested and have been praying for him. To all, thank you.

Miracle!

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:40:05 GMT

For the ones who are following the recovery of my son, all updates are now centralized in his Website . You can go to www.rodneyspears.org You can leave a word of encouragement when you visit. He reads them everyday and is blessed everytime. Thank you to all that have taken it as your ministry to pray especially for him.

This is the first time Rodney saw his son since the accident. He did not know what to think of his dad at first! He was not used to all the facial hair and hair on his daddy's head! But he recognized his voice! That was a sweet moment.

On the 12th of December, The team of trauma doctors came to the ICU Step Down Unit to make another assesment of his recovery. All of them were in tears when they told him he is finally leaving the ICU Unit! WOW! If you have followed where he was to this day, you would also say WOW! It is the Lord.

On the 13th of December, the young junior orthopedic doctor was filling in the Senior Orthopedic Doctor of the floor about Rodney's case. He was reciting all these medical lingo .... the Senior doctor touched my son's left foot when my son said said, "I can feel that". The junior doctor said, "I cannot explain that. The nerves were completely pulled from the sacrum (where the spine joins the pelvis) and was severed. They did not expect any sensation to return to the left leg. The nerve is the slowest growing part of our body. It can grow less than an inch in a year. The Senior Doctor then said, "Something is going in there!" The Junior Doctor was so baffled because he saw the severed nerves with his own eyes! There's no doubt that God was at work!

Continue to pray. The sensation in his leg and foot continues to get better. Just this morning, he told me that he feels shooting pain down to the foot from time to time. I believe those are the nerves trying to fuse together. God is the only one that can do that. In whatever capacity God will allow him to use his left leg, He will get the glory.

Late night of 14th, Dr Fann, the trauma doctor that saved his life... saved him from bleeding to to death, the doctor that did not give up even after my son bled through 2 1/2 times of his entire blood volume, came to see him. It was so nice to finally meet him.

The Physical Therapist Lady, Shawn came and Rodney scooted himself from the bed to the reclining chair all by himself. He just needed assistance with his legs. Whew! Shawn was pleased! He sat in that chair for 1 hour and 20 minutes!

Rodney's first time to sit upright for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Dad helped him pass the time away.

Yesterday, 15th of December, Dr. Tucker the Orthopedic doctor that literally worked on his pelvis and left hip was also surprised of how much sensation he has in his left leg. His quad muscle is strong and he was very pleased that something (I don't know the term, maybe the ligaments or tendon) is firing (that is the exact word that he used) at the back of his knee.

Later that morning, Dr. Morrison and other doctors came to assess his condition. For a long time, they all were talking outside his door. Dr. Barefoot who assisted came to see him and wished him well. Doctors from other units came just to see him. They said, "they told us about you and we just want to look at the miracle man." And they left.

They pulled his chest tube and took the central IV out and replace it with just one entry needle. His IV tower is not so threatening anymore. Continue to pray for continued healing on his wounds in the back where he had the incision and where they put the hardware (plates and screws) to put together his broken back pelvis together.

The PT Lady Shawn came again and this time Rodney was wheeled outside to breath fresh air for the first time Since November 16, 2008!

Here he is pictured with Reyna, Ryan, Angela and Rowana. First time to breath fresh air since the accident!

For one month, he was cocooned under the care of doctors and nurses. He developed that full dependence on them. And when he went outside for the first time, a weird feeling of fear came over him and he wanted to go back in. Now this morning, God sent Agnes his nurse who is a great Christian lady to encourage him and address his issue of fear. She said that once he is home the devil will discourage him, make him fear. She said, "Dig into the word, pray and claim his promises." I believe that God sends angels to aid us in time of need. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Praise be the Name of the Lord!

Here is my son Rodney. Lost a lot of weight. His eyes still a little bit sunken and has dark circles around his eyes. But considering from where he has been, he looks great!! With him is Agnes his day nurse that really encouraged his heart. TJ is a new nurse that she is training. They are both from Nigeria.

Facial Surgery Tomorrow!

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:15:47 GMT

Dear Xanga Friends,

Please pray for my son, Rodney Spears II. I've been posting his daily progress. It's a little bit slow because we spend 8-9 hours between travel and visiting time. By the time I get home from the last visit, I am already tired. All I want to do is go to bed and sleep

TOMORROW HE WILL HAVE HIS FACIAL SURGERY! I covet your prayers. The doctor will put titanium plates to hold the bones together below the eyes. After the surgery, we will know if he damaged his right optical nerve or not. With the surgery, it will releave pressure off from the right eye. If the optical nerve is not compromised, then vision will return. If not, then it means he lost his total right eye vision. SO PLEASE, PRAY THE EYE WELL!

Thank you all,
Rebekah

Our Son Rodney Jr. Motorcycle Accident -Update #10

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 11:18:13 GMT

November 23, 2008

One week today since the accident happened! I thank God for each day, every minute and every visiting time that I can see and have my son alive and with us. He has given me and my family the faith and the grace that we needed for each hour. Some will say “But I don’t have faith!” Use the faith that you have now and then God will give you some more. He will be sufficient when you need Him.

2Cor. 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

He was restless last night and by morning, they put him in sand bed so they don’t have to turn him sideways or face down (depending on the type of bed). It is like a big tub filled with sand and hot or warm air blowing through the sand. This eliminates pressures points on one spot on his back. Since he will go to the OR today to clean wounds (scrub if need be), stitches, change bandages, clean or replace tubes, etc., they gave him more medication last night so he can rest to face another day.

His fever went down to 102.8. His bowel and bladder function was re-routed one, his injury in his pelvis was so severe that they can’t move him. two, they don’t want any infection in that region. 40% is the mortality rate if he contracted infection in his pelvis. The Urologist said that it may be a month before they can work on that. It depends on the healing of his pelvis area.

The irony of this is, the doctor that was driving the car that hit Rodney works in the Urology Department at Duke Hospital in NC. Palmetto does not do that kind of work, they will refer him there and the lady doctor already offered her services out of a big heart and the team who she said are the best in the area. God really worked it out, didn’t he? The accident was not her fault nor Rodney’s fault. We thank God that she was in the right time and at the right place. God will use her at the time Rodney will need her.

The TV crew of wisTV came at the service and covered part of the service to elaborate more on the accident and the support the whole family is receiving from everyone. We thank the Lord for each one, your support, may it be just being there, by prayer, providing food, or helping out in anything. Thank you.

The crew that was in-charge of getting the rental house ready found the house was broken into and vandalized. Eggs strewn on the wall that was newly painted, toiled paper everywhere and marker writings on the wall. As Angela has said, “That is not the biggest scheme of things at this point and time. I don’t care if the house burnt down to the ground.” She is thankful that her husband is alive and that she still has him and their 9 month old baby.

Hanging out in the Waiting Room.

Little Roddy (Rodney and Angela's baby) getting a big mouthful of yummy food from Tita Wana (Tita means Aunt, Wana is short for Rowana):)