We came home early Monday morning after our adventure to Bethel Church in Redding, California. It's a wonderful place where people learn to love like Jesus loves and to honor each other and anyone else the Lord puts in their path. What an amazing difference that makes in the atmosphere and how a visitor feels. It is rare that Adam and I have felt so loved and welcomed outside of our own little corner of the planet. I was not worried about his behavior disturbing anyone else, and I wasn't worried about needing to take him out of the sanctuary if he was noisy. I didn't feel the judgment or the irritation that we have sometimes experienced when we visit someplace new. It was so refreshing to be able to just deal with Adam and his needs and not worry that he was too noisy every time he squeaked or got excited. He was accepted and loved for who he is. Bill Johnson and his staff have learned, and have taught their church so well, to honor every person.
It was terrific to have these women who love Jesus as our companions in this part of Adam's journey to wholeness. They are seasoned intercessors and kept us in prayer before, during and after our time there. You can't ask for better than that. It was fun having meals together and getting to know each other a little more. Caylao is so cute and sweet and she was so good! It's not easy being eight months old and doing all that travelling and being away from everything familiar. She smiled all the time and rarely cried.
Our friend's son, Jason, is a student at the School of Ministry at Bethel. He did everything he could to help us while we were in town. He gave us the service times and advice on how early we needed to arrive to get good seats. He spent time with us and listened to Adam and really gave him so much attention..I think he was probably as tired as I was some of the time. He joined us in the healing rooms and spent time talking with Adam even though he wasn't officially allowed to minister at the time. He introduced us to some of his friends who were also very good with Adam. After the Sunday service, I went into the bookstore, which is surprisingly small for such a large facility. It was really crowded. Jason and his friend Kyle were in there, and Jay offered to take Adam into the hallway for me so that I could have a few minutes to find what I wanted to buy. When I went out into the hall to find them, they were gone. I looked in the coffee shop area, outside, in the sanctuary, and then decided to text Jay. His friend Kyle came up to me and said they needed to leave and could I come and get Adam. "Sure! Where is he?" Jay had taken him for a behind the scenes tour of the sanctuary. What a great time Adam had with them! It was difficult getting him to let them leave.
We met nearly every person who walked by us, as Adam greets everyone and says "C'mere! C'mere!" And many people just do. That never ceases to amaze me. We met guys from the worship team, people from Norway, Italy, and countless other places, security guards, the electrician, custodians, and assorted others who blended together after a while. Wonderfully kind, all of them.
The first night, the worship team was practicing when we went into the sanctuary. We were the first to arrive and got to sit three rows from the front. The first two are reserved. Adam walked up and watched the band for about ten seconds and started blessing them with "Whoosh! Whoosh! Fire! Fire!" as he raised his hands over his head and then bent forward to be sure the blessing flowed. I wasn't sure what to expect, if they might be annoyed, as they were praying before practice, but they just looked at him and smiled and laughed and received what he was sending. Worship was fantastic and later, during the sermon, Adam sat quietly and absorbed all he could. The girls were amazed at his ability to stay focused for so long...an hour and a half. It really is remarkable, but he can concentrate for much longer periods of time when the Spirit of the Lord flows with power. And He was.
That's it for tonight; I just wanted to share some more of our trip with you. I hope you're enjoying the journey with us. Peace, blessings and lots of love to all my readers. xoxoxo
We attended the Friday night service, the Saturday morning Healing Rooms, and Sunday service. Adam may have had more prayer for healing in the three visits to Bethel than he's had in his entire life. That's because they not only take every opportunity to pray, but they also stayed with him for a long time to soak him in the Lord's presence and to keep listening to the Father for His direction and desire. And so many people wanted to pray for him! I had to fend them off sometimes because he was so tired. I never experienced that before. (People often avoid praying for him , I think because they're afraid of failure. I understand that.)Adam continues to be extremely boistrous and excited when he's getting a lot of attention. And it's hard for someone who doesn't know him to understand how this affects him. I have to say that I was also very tired after the meetings. We had intended to go to a concert/fundraiser for the school that's part of this ministry, but after the time spent in the Healing Rooms on Saturday we had lunch and went back to the hotel and slept. When evening came we were still too tired to do anything but get some food and bring it in for dinner. Adam didn't think we needed to stay in, but I was tired. We rested and spent time with friends who traveled to Bethel to be with us and pray for Adam.
Jessica, my youngest daughter, and her friends, Natalie, and Ella and Caylao, Ella's baby daughter, flew up from San Diego to Sacramento and met us at the airport. We rented a car together and drove up to Redding. You can get a connecting flight, but it would have cost too much. It was nicer anyway to drive together and spend time talking. I rarely get to see them. All of them work and took time out of their busy schedules to be with us. Jessica is an audiologist, Ella is a college professor, and Natalie is a doctor. Not so easy to get all of our scedules to jive, but from the time they heard I was thinking of bringing Adam to Bethel, they were praying about going and for the break in their routine to be able to come. God is so good!It was terrific to have these women who love Jesus as our companions in this part of Adam's journey to wholeness. They are seasoned intercessors and kept us in prayer before, during and after our time there. You can't ask for better than that. It was fun having meals together and getting to know each other a little more. Caylao is so cute and sweet and she was so good! It's not easy being eight months old and doing all that travelling and being away from everything familiar. She smiled all the time and rarely cried.
Our friend's son, Jason, is a student at the School of Ministry at Bethel. He did everything he could to help us while we were in town. He gave us the service times and advice on how early we needed to arrive to get good seats. He spent time with us and listened to Adam and really gave him so much attention..I think he was probably as tired as I was some of the time. He joined us in the healing rooms and spent time talking with Adam even though he wasn't officially allowed to minister at the time. He introduced us to some of his friends who were also very good with Adam. After the Sunday service, I went into the bookstore, which is surprisingly small for such a large facility. It was really crowded. Jason and his friend Kyle were in there, and Jay offered to take Adam into the hallway for me so that I could have a few minutes to find what I wanted to buy. When I went out into the hall to find them, they were gone. I looked in the coffee shop area, outside, in the sanctuary, and then decided to text Jay. His friend Kyle came up to me and said they needed to leave and could I come and get Adam. "Sure! Where is he?" Jay had taken him for a behind the scenes tour of the sanctuary. What a great time Adam had with them! It was difficult getting him to let them leave.
We met nearly every person who walked by us, as Adam greets everyone and says "C'mere! C'mere!" And many people just do. That never ceases to amaze me. We met guys from the worship team, people from Norway, Italy, and countless other places, security guards, the electrician, custodians, and assorted others who blended together after a while. Wonderfully kind, all of them.
The first night, the worship team was practicing when we went into the sanctuary. We were the first to arrive and got to sit three rows from the front. The first two are reserved. Adam walked up and watched the band for about ten seconds and started blessing them with "Whoosh! Whoosh! Fire! Fire!" as he raised his hands over his head and then bent forward to be sure the blessing flowed. I wasn't sure what to expect, if they might be annoyed, as they were praying before practice, but they just looked at him and smiled and laughed and received what he was sending. Worship was fantastic and later, during the sermon, Adam sat quietly and absorbed all he could. The girls were amazed at his ability to stay focused for so long...an hour and a half. It really is remarkable, but he can concentrate for much longer periods of time when the Spirit of the Lord flows with power. And He was.
That's it for tonight; I just wanted to share some more of our trip with you. I hope you're enjoying the journey with us. Peace, blessings and lots of love to all my readers. xoxoxo
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