…and overturned the tables. John 2:15 

How is everyone doing today?  Has your life been overturned this past year by illness, or job changes, or death of a loved one?  Are you feeling a lot like Job who had his life overturned in a single day?  Please let me tell you my story…

It seems that my tea has spilled again.  Almost three years ago my tea spilled when our granddaughter was diagnosed with cancer. We joyfully celebrated her survival last June.  But now our lives have been spilled and overturned once again, knocking over not just my teacup but the whole table!

So, what happened?  The most mysterious illness of all… mold!  We are learning that the symptoms of mold mimic so many other conditions that doctors are slow to discover it.  Once you finally know, you’ve been living in the mold situation so long that your health is even worse.  The only action is to get out! The mold spores are what makes us sick. 

Mold is a fire without flames, a hurricane without winds, an invisible plague that invades lungs, guts, joints and brain cells.  Our home we anointed with hyssop and grape juice at Passover is now condemned. We have to throw away most of our belongings. Every book and pillow, every picture frame, lamp, sofa and bed… it all must go in a dumpster because of mold spores.  I must say good-bye to my Daniel window, my Jesus spot, my Bible, my prayer journal and my hymnal.  It will all be no more.  

My son Joel and I were discussing how you can’t take anything to heaven.  The Lord is just letting us experience that a little bit early.  But usually you have the joy of being in heaven when that happens!  Our hearts empathize with all those who have been through house fires (my in-laws), floods (my parents), hurricanes (the people of Florida), forest fires (my prayer friend Laurie), and many others!  Oh, how these disasters bring us closer to the ONE who provides for us all.

This fall I was asked to write a bio for the back of my new book, More TEA CUPP Prayers (please pray it will still come out spring 2023!).  I looked for ideas on the backs of my other two books, My TEA CUPP Prayers and Mom’s TEA CUPP Prayers.  But then I realized how much God has pruned me these past few years.  

My TEA CUPP Prayers explains, “Jennifer Grace is an author, speaker, blogger, homeschool mom and grandma, Sunday school teacher, tutor, but most of all, God’s child and prayer warrior.  Mom’s TEA CUPP Prayers says, “Jennifer Grace is a wife, mom, grandma, runner, scrapbooker, prayer warrior, but most of all, God’s child.”  

What has He pruned?  Speaking engagements left when covid hit.  Blogging slowed down with my health.  The Lord called us to be Sabbath keepers, so we now worship on Saturday. He called us to home church, so I don’t teach the little kids anymore.  He took away my health so I couldn’t run.  And now He is even taking my scrapbooks.  Yet, I am still a wife, mom, grandma, and author, and I will always and forever be a prayer warrior and a daughter of the King of kings.  

And so we leave, not even with the clothes on our backs, for those also will be thrown away, showering and changing at a laundromat.  We relocate to a safe guest house and pray for the Lord to provide and guide us in our next steps.  Seems like this would be the time to take that trip around the country (especially to dry climates) in an RV and be witnesses for Jesus Christ.  The Lord knows the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.  Could this be the open door that no one can shut through which we must walk?  Please pray for us!

• Please pray for…
• Jesus to guide our next steps.
• Healing for our bodies.
• The provision of a home or RV.
• Comfort for our children.
• That Jesus is glorified even in this!

The words of Job 1:21 and Habakkuk 3:17-18 come to mind… The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord…. Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls—Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Today’s TEA CUPP:  Will you please pray for me and my family this Christmas?  Thank you, dear one!  Your prayers are a blessing. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.  The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.  Love, Jennifer Grace

P.S.  Matthew 6:25-34 is encouraging!  Check it out!

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:33-34 (NKJV)

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  Matthew 6:18-20 (NKJV)

…Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5 (NKVJ)

And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Matthew 8:20 (NKJV)

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 (NKJV)

A few mold resources:  https://paradigmchange.me/stories/, https://momsaware.org/

We had to give away our dear Lucy Lamb, the first of many sad good-byes…

Scripture from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson