Trey Tuesday - January 31, 2012

Oh, how I love Jesus!  And Trey!  :)

Take a peek at Who Trey loves!  :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJWGperPY7g

Spend a few minutes with Trey and you can just feeeeeeeeeeel the love!  :)
Imagine Trey going through another week of chemo and you and I can just feeeeeeeeeeel the pain and sadness....
But as we gather in the name of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we must put our feelings aside!
We must claim every promise that is ours in Christ!
We must take God at His Word and read and believe His Truths!
We pray for Trey's complete healing!
We pray for peace and comfort and wisdom for Trey and his family!
We pray for the love of Jesus to be known far and wide because of Trey!
And we pray for the love of Jesus to dwell deep inside our hearts so that we can sing and shout to the Only One who has control
over Trey, his family, his doctors and his cancer!

Psalm 95:1-7
"Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
   let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before Him with thanksgiving
   and extol Him with music and song.

For the LORD is the great God,
   the great King above all gods.
In His hand are the depths of the earth,
   and the mountain peaks belong to Him.
The sea is His, for He made it,
   and His hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us bow down in worship,
   let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
for He is our God
   and we are the people of His pasture,
   the flock under His care."

Trey Tuesday - January 24, 2012

That's good math!  :)

"Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied."
Jude 2

Wow!  To think that God accepts me in my disgusting, sinful life is phenomenal!
And THEN to imagine that God offers His forgiving grace and mercy is True Love!
Praise Him for His life-saving, life-giving love!

Let's take a closer look:
1.  Mercy unto you - Merriam-Webster.com. - Compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm
Oh, could God cause me some harm as punishment every time I willfully disobey Him and choose to turn my back on Him!
But Mercy unto me!  and you!

2.  Peace -   The world's peace is so temporary and cheap, but Jesus says, John 14:27: "My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives."
And we thank God for that!

3.  Love - Obviously, all that we watch on TV, see on the internet or hear about on the news or even within our circles of co-workers and friends is not based on love.
Quite the opposite, actually!  So how do we know the One True meaning of love?
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
I John 4:10

4.  And here comes the Ultimate Sale/Extreme Coupon/BOGO offer! 
"Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied."  emphasis mine!  :)
Jude 2
All of the above over and over again!  God is able!

And so, on this Trey Tuesday we gather our thoughts and prayers and focus on our sweet Young Warrior!
Is Trey afraid as each day passes....wondering how his blood numbers are?  Thinking about his kidney functioning "just right?"
Does He second guess the decisions and choices his parents make concerning his well-being?
No!  Trey rests with great peace and love and trust in the hands of his parents!
Trey, unknowingly, relies on the prayers of Team Mitlo One standing in the gap for him!  :)
And Jay and Rachel and Joe and Bella:  Dreading the fact that they are eligible for a Make a Wish trip, yet thankful for the opportunity!
Trusting human doctors and nurses, yet relying on the sustaining strength of the Creator of the Universe!
Treasuring each "butter dance" and silly song and sharing the joy with thousands of Trey fans!  :)
Clinging to each thread of mercy and love and peace that God provides!

Please be still before the Lord.  Hear and accept His mercy and peace and love.
Ask Him for a healing miracle for Trey.
And for continued blessings and protection upon the Mitlo family!

Blessings by Laura Story

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSVqHcdhXQ

Trey Tuesday - January 17, 2012

Sunday Dinner!

What a blessing I received last weekend to be able to share in an old family tradition called, "Sunday Dinner."
Family, food, friends, singing AND Trey!  Does it get any better!?!?  :)
Some are first time guests and some take the event for granted, but somewhere in the midst of the dishes and the chaos a beautiful body of Christ can be seen.
Love and trials, laughter and tears, announcements and whispers, young and old, strong and weak, we come together because God has given us this time.

Much like Team Mitlo One!  Strangers bound through Facebook, email, blogs, bracelets, Tshirts and podcasts!
Because God has given us this time.
Oh, how I wish we could convey to each one of you how vital your presence and prayers are to Jay and Rachel and their family!
Thank you for being the body of Christ to them!

And on this Trey Tuesday we ask for continued prayers for Trey:
- for complete healing!
- for continued strength and health!
- for the peace of God that passes understanding!
- for Trey's Make a Wish plans to bring joy!  (and more Team Mitlo One members, and ultimately more God's Team members!). :)

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful."
Colossians 3:15

Trey Tuesday - January 10, 2012

Wait for the soap!

OK.  Open confession time.  I realized recently that my hurried, rushed, impatient lifestyle had reached an all time high!  (or is it low?)
While washing my hands the other day, I noticed that I had a made a trail of liquid soap from the dispenser to the sink, yet I had no soap on my hands!
Why?  Because I was in too much of a rush to wait for the liquid soap to drip out!  I needed to "wash" my hands and move on!
Silly example, I know, but now that I have thought about this, hand washing time takes on a whole new meaning for me.

You see, many of us live in a hurried, harried lifestyle in the physical sense.  Multi-tasking is the norm.
But what about impatience in our spiritual lives?  In our instant gratification culture, we must remember the Author and Perfecter of our faith
and recognize His power in His timing.

As we gather for Pray for Trey Tuesday, and think and pray about Jay and Rachel's conversation with the doctor last week,
do you get impatient?  Do you feel that the doctors should be doing more?  Multi-tasking Trey's treatments?
Do you feel God should be doing more?  Sure, God is capable of doing anything AND everything!
But do you trust Him enough to trust His timetable, His hands, His heart for Trey?

"I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,
   and in His Word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
   more than watchmen wait for the morning,
   more than watchmen wait for the morning."
Psalm 130:5,6

So, of course, we continue to pray for Trey's complete healing!
We praise God for Trey's excellent day yesterday and outstanding blood and kidney numbers!
We ask God to give Jay and Rachel the words and the Wisdom and Strength and Peace they need!
We ask God to keep Trey healthy and strong and silly and sweet!
We ask for God's Grace and Mercy and Comfort for Joe and Bella!
We ask for accurate knowledge and wisdom for Trey's doctors and nurses!
And we ask for the presence and prayers of Team Mitlo One to continue to make a bold statement for Christ!

"Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
   for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
   therefore I will wait for Him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24

Trey Tuesday - January 3, 2012

Talk about Extreme Home Makeover!?!

I love when an unfamiliar passage of scripture becomes so crystal clear to me!  I love how the Holy Spirit just opens the blinders of my eyes and heart and reveals God's message!
2 Kings 23 is one of those passages.  God tells us about Josiah leading the people of Judah and Jerusalem through an extreme renewal.
It begins in chapter 22 with a message from God to King Josiah.
"Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord...
and because you tore your robes and wept in My presence,
I have heard you,' declares the Lord."
2 Kings 22:19

Is this a recipe for prayer?
Is this a new formula Team Mitlo One needs to adopt in order for God to hear our prayers for Trey?
Do we need to start tearing our clothes and crying out loud?
No, God can not be put in a neat little box like that.
(Consider the myriad of Hoarders and their idolatry habits listed in chapter 23 - they needed more than a formula!)

Read on in Chapter 23 as to why God heard Josiah:
"...He turned to the Lord - with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength..."
2 Kings 23:25
When was the last time you did something with your all?
Spend a very few minutes with Trey and you will see him live every minute with his all!
(Even 300 miles away via video I can laugh out loud at his silly antics - every time!)

So, will you start this New Year off with a personal makeover?
Clean out whatever has taken root in your heart, soul and strength and make room for King Jesus!
Then, will you ask God to heal Trey?
To bring Trey great physical strength and peace?
To comfort and sustain Jay and Rachel with His Omnipotence?
To surround Joe and Bella with His mighty shield?

"I have heard you, declares the Lord."
2 Kings 22:19