5 years ago Easter weekend was my first couple days working at the Lutheran Church of Hope straight out of rehab! Witnessing Easter in 2017 started a fire in my soul!! I am so thankful for the far from perfect path that has brought me to this Easter. So much has happened in 5 years. I’ve met so many amazing people including Joy who I ran into Easter Day. She is a very special person to me. We share a deep connection from Alpha when she did her first and my first soaking prayer over me and my husband during the Holy Spirit retreat.
Joy makes me light up when I see her and amazingly a few times when I needed prayer she would be at the station I ended up at. Hope is huge and for God to bring us together so many times is not an accident. Joy said this yesterday “Hope is the littlest big church you’ll ever go to.” God has weaved her prayers throughout my life over many difficult things I have faced. She has an anointing gift of prayer and she brings absolute Joy to this world!!! It was such a treat to see her and be able to talk for awhile. We don’t have to face things alone and that is the power of God! This is what heaven feels like these relationships we develop are the treasures.
In 2018 my husband and I moved to West Des Moines from Bettendorf, IA to be close to my family and Hope while I was fresh in my recovery from alcohol. This was our first experience going to Alpha which is a series of sessions exploring the Christian faith, typically run over eleven weeks. Each talk looks at a different question around faith and is designed to create conversation. Alpha is run all around the globe, and everyone is welcome.
They hold a Holy Spirit retreat in the worship center during each alpha course. The lights are down low so you can have some quiet reflective time. You can choose to go over to a prayer parter and be prayed and soaked over. That’s where I met Joy. She’s been a prayer warrior for many years ever since she first experienced Alpha and turned her life over to God. This was all new for me and incredibly moving. Both my husband and I experienced the Holy Spirit in a new way we’ve never experienced before. Both in tears.
I was so moved by this whole experience I wanted to paint that moment and give it to Joy as a thank you for saying yes to God and sharing her heart. There’s been so many of those moments in the last 5 years that has strengthen my faith and made this walk even richer.
Start to believe and then you will see the miracles. The fire has grown immensely inside my heart and that’s because of what God has done for us! People must know the power of Gods love.