Revival...Squirrel Not Required

When I used to hear the words "revival in our church" it evoked images of ladies in their dresses and fancy hats, men in their hats and suspenders, fanning themselves under a tent in the sweltering heat trying not to sweat even though it was hotter than the smelting furnaces at Nucor in August all the while a string of preachers read from Revelations, because we all know fear is a powerful motivator. Immediately after this image I start to sing, "the day the squirrel went berserk in The First Self-Righteous Church," by Ray Stevens (The Mississippi Squirrel Revival.) If you haven't ever heard the song, it's pretty funny. We would listen to Ray (and Charlie Daniels, The Judds, Conway Twitty, and whomever else Dad had on tape cassette) on the endless ride up here from Florida every summer, so I became familiar with the song.

Tonight, however, those images were not even a flicker on my mind's eye. When Brother Terry said that he can feel the beginnings of a revival in Finch Baptist Church, I felt an electric buzz, a hum almost in my ears. I know how corny it sounds to someone else reading this. I've sat in your seat. I was that doubter. I was that person who said, "You have lost your mind. I don't know who you're fooling or impressing." I cried my eyes out tonight in church and I am not ashamed or abashed to say it. I love the Lord and I love the positive changes He has made in my life. He has changed my husband into the spiritual leader the home needed. Our family is a cohesive unit that is connected in a way that never was before. We have a greater love for each other that wasn't there two months ago. I can't wait to be in church and two months ago it was a coin toss if I would go Sunday morning. I am volunteering to cook as often as they will let me (and I can with work) and six months ago I was a wretched, horrible, angry, sinner. I'm still a sinner who is undeserving of His grace, but I was as far from His will as one could be. Because I was not obeying His will, I had to hire an attorney to fight my ex-husband and the State of Arkansas to make them do what was right and honest. I was paying for my deeds. I deserved it because I turned my back on God. I don't deserve to have the redemption I have received, but you best believe I am grateful and will shout it from the rooftops that GOD IS THE REASON I AM ALIVE!!! If it were not for his grace and forgiveness, I would not be where I am today, and that is my own personal revival. I pray that it is the start of something bigger.

Post Script:
I am going through a personal issue that I might go into later, but I don't have it in me right now to share. But if you would, please pray for me to have the strength to persevere and to find God's will for me in this issue. Thank you and God Bless.