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The Day I Met Smith Wigglesworth…

The week had been dark, gloomy almost. Winds whipped around us, swirling and swooning in a tumultuous rain spat fury. The cold, chilling to our core as we crossed the grassy fields along the River Eden, just the day before. A flame like desire, burning our insides, keeping us engrossed in the rich history of the land we trekked. Hands clasped tight around my tiny daughter. Eyes, never dropping gaze from my sweet school-age boy as he darted down the path. With umbrella in one arm and babe in the other we sojourned the English countryside to pay homage to those Saints that had gone before.

In these moments, solemn and uninterrupted by the chaos of life. I breathed in deep and drank up my surroundings. At that moment, with sheets of icy rain pouring down and wind that would like to snatch up my rainbow colored umbrella, set it free and loose it to dance among the clouds, I knew. I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

That night, exhausted, we laid our heads to sleep and awoke to the sun streaming in through the clouds. The rain had cleared and it was a glorious day with even warmer temperatures than the days prior. Today was to be the day! We set off on a journey that had no direct course other than that of adventure. Loading the two kids in the back of the vehicle, along with a friend who had joined us from America, we set off. Today we had plans that would take us a little under three hours by car and the sky couldn’t be any clearer.

We arrived in Bradford, Yorkshire searching for the address we had scratched down on paper. A scavenger hunt of revival history, a search for tokens of a time gone by. I live for these moments. A frenzy of emotions as we canvass the unfamiliar territory, a quest for a piece of heritage… a glimpse into glory. I can recall first hearing the name Smith Wigglesworth when I was in my teens and had been given the book God’s Generals by Roberts Liardon. His story unfolded before me and as I went on to Ministry School, I took the book with me… digging deep into the lives of those that once shook the nations for Christ.

There I stood, 14 years after my introduction to the Man of Faith and Power inhaling the crisp English air and exhaling a prayer of thanksgiving for the seed of this man’s life. For his wife, Mary Jane. For his fierce faith in a God who does the impossible. I sat in the stiff grass directly in front of his tombstone… It read, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

Have you ever been in a moment, a space in time, where the surroundings melt away like the wax of a burning candle and you are suddenly engulfed in destiny? You know when it takes place. Every fiber of your being feels alive, every cell dancing to the song of the stars. Your purpose, your path, your call… all leading you to these memorial moments. I close my eyes, sitting in the C Terminal at the Nashville International Airport, and I am taken to that day. A bright day with a slight chill in the air. Clear, crisp, like Autumn in New York yet with the soft glow of an early morning in Spring. Delicious.

We moved on from the cemetery to find the house Smith once lived in. The very house that Lester Sumrall would visit as a young man. As we scoured the streets, with nothing to go on but an address and a tip that it was near a corner Barber Shop, we happened upon a location that vaguely fit the description. Charlie, my husband and current driver, parked the car along a busy street, hopped out and declared he would knock on all the doors in the row of townhouses until he found it!

I watched as he walked away, locked in the car with the kids and our American companion. Fear gripped me as a loud bullhorn reverberated something in Arabic and I suddenly felt as if I were no longer in England, but a Middle Eastern country. I glanced outside the windows and noticed the women walking by in full burka, while the younger girls had head coverings. I twisted around in my seat, searching the street signs and faces of those who passed by. I could not help but notice we were the only light skinned Americans in what seemed to be an entirely Muslim Community. Seven minutes had passed since Charlie entered one of the homes, and my imagination just went wild!

Suddenly, he emerged from a stoop, waving for all of us to come. We unloaded the kids quickly and ran to the door where three Pakistani ladies and two small children invited us in. The house had been difficult to find, as some Christians had visited in the past and asked these ladies if they could have the door numbers. Being polite, they obliged and then never replaced them. This is why Charlie had been knocking on several doors asking for the correct home. When the ladies answered, He said, “I noticed you don’t have your house numbers up.” To which they replied with the story aforementioned. So Charlie in great humor said, “Oh really, well then you won’t mind that I have come to take your front door!”

The ladies burst into laughter and invited him, along with us (who had been in the car) into the home where they showed us around. The ladies grew up in the home as their deceased parents had purchased it over 40 years ago. They told us stories of the many Christians who have come by to see the home, but they hadn’t often invite them in. They told us of one, wanting to buy the home and create a museum but they would not sell. The now adult daughters said, “We have heard the stories of the man Smith Wigglesworth but this has been our home and will always be… but tell us, are the stories true? Did he do miracles and did he raise his wife from the dead?”

It was there in the living room, which would have been the front room or study of Smith Wigglesworth during his time, that we were able to share the truth of God’s healing power and love of Jesus Christ. We were able to pray over the ladies there and see the healing of a migraine headache, shoulder pain and severe torment. Right in the very home that Lester Sumrall would visit weekly to read the Word of God with Smith Wigglesworth, we shared the love of Jesus. It was surreal. It was epic. It was so naturally supernatural. Because when you are on an Adventure with Christ, it is the daily comings and goings that breed the miraculous. It is found in the pleasant conversation of strangers that love is transferred and hearts are transformed. It is in the chronicles of grace and glory that we find our true selves.

Finding Peace in the Chaos of Parenting

by Millie Radosti

On a snowy lake, on a brisk March day in 2007, I married the love of my life. We walked ourselves down the aisle, played our own genre of music and wore unique colors that we especially chose to reflect our personalities. After all, this was our wedding, so we wanted everything to be exactly as we liked! Our honeymoon included a trip down the east coast. Six months into our marriage, we felt an undeniable burning in our hearts — God’s call into ministry. We would need to leave much behind, which didn’t bother us for one moment. We packed up our car with what we could fit, including our two cats, and headed back to our home state of Pennsylvania. Within weeks, we were traveling around the world, sharing the amazing testimony of God’s transforming power in our lives. We learned to be comfortable with the instability of not having control in our lives. We saw so much during our travels:

The jungles of the Darien and the Amazon
The shacks and prostitute villages of Suriname
The poverty-stricken tribes of Guatemala and
The gang-tainted parks of New Zealand.

We didn’t think that life could get any crazier! But then — when we least expected it and against all odds — we got pregnant!

I walked into my first pregnancy blithely unaware, with no idea of what I would face. Since I believed with all my heart that pregnancy, labor and mothering should be natural and intuitive, I very confidently rose to the unexpected challenges that soon approached. My labor was one of the most intense and terrible things that I had ever experienced. I birthed at home, in a birth pool with the belief I would emerge with a calm baby who slept when I wanted him to. I thought that my pregnancy weight would fall right off me, and my life would be perfected by this little human who took my relationship with my husband from “couple” to “family.”

Instead, I invited nearly the entire church to my “perfect” labor where I screamed embarrassing things, such as “Hit me over the head with a shovel!” After enduring 14 hours of labor, I was handed a strong-willed, screaming baby who did not believe in sleep. My husband, mother and I took eight-hour shifts walking him in circles so that the others take turns getting some much-needed rest. At our six-week appointment with the midwife, she plainly announced to me, “Your labor seems to echo much of the past trauma that you’ve experienced. You should consider getting some help.”

She left my home, and all I could think is, “What did I get myself into? Will this ever get better?”

The deep emotions of hopelessness as a mother grew too intense for me to bear. I later learned that I was suffering an extremely severe case of postpartum depression. I reached out to other friends, some without children who had no idea what was wrong with me and some with children who could not relate to my experiences. I was tired, depressed and even worse, I felt isolated. I shared my story with a friend who decided it might help if I joined her in a “Mom’s Group” that she attended. I opted to go only to find myself immersed with an incredible group of mamas who were living in “babyland bliss.” Maybe it should have been encouraging, but my mind instead decided to inform me, “Look at all of these incredible moms who have it all together with beautiful children your baby’s age! You are just not a good mother!” The mental comparisons began. Triggered by no one but my own insecurities, I walked into the dangerous world of comparisons, “I need to be better than someone to have worth.”

The pressure to have a perfect child — and in the future, children — grew. “I’m a ministry wife! My children need to be the best behaved, with 50 Bible verses memorized along with all basic children’s Bible songs learned in American Sign Language by the age of 2!”

Over the years, more and more children came, until the day that I sat down to write this blog post, now pregnant with sweet baby number four! I carted my children from ministry event to ministry event, trying to bring enough snacks and toys to keep them quiet and that were acceptable to adult standards. I learned many “parenting techniques” for keeping my kids “in order.” Some were less than desirable and did not produce the long-term results that I wanted. I learned that many recommended fear-based parenting. “Whip the child who does not listen!” I’m not blogging about spanking here, but I found that children shouldn’t carry the pressures that we place on them to be “perfect in all adult settings at all times.”

Through much time in prayer and walking through the process of healing, I learned to embrace my children at each stage of life. I learned to look into their souls to see what they needed. Sometimes, life is crazy, loud and very chaotic and I wasn’t sure how to “quiet” my children apart from fear and intimidation. Although I desperately wanted peace, I didn’t want to take that route. One day, when I felt completely overwhelmed, I asked God, “How do I get peace? When it’s all so crazy, how do I get peace?”

I heard his reply to my heart, “I will quiet you with my love.”

“Wait a minute,” I thought, “I’ve heard that before!” I quickly zipped over to Zephaniah 3:17.

“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

How does God quiet His children?!? How does God maintain such an everlasting and perfect peace in the midst of any situation? Through His love. This isn’t knocking any particular parenting style except the ones that use fearful intimidation as a tactic. I’ve been guilty, guys. I’m not pointing the finger without first repenting myself. You may quiet your children temporarily using fear-based parenting, but over the long term, you will damage your connection, not only between you and your child, but between them and God. If you want teens who are “in love with Jesus,” learn to quiet them as children with your love — the love that God put in your heart for them. Learn to rejoice over them with singing! Learn how to bring out the joy in an intense moment with your child.

One of the main ways to do this is to seek out your child’s heart.

My husband had me read the book “The Five Love Languages” before we were married. I enjoyed it immensely and learned a lot about my soon-to-be spouse. But it wasn’t until recently that I thought to actually apply these same principles to the lives of my children. My first baby, the one who I labeled as “strong willed,” well . . . not much has changed. He was a fighter from birth. I always knew that he had been given this strength for a reason, but I saw the need for his strong spirit when he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia on Feb. 1, 2015, at just 4.5 years of age. This form of childhood cancer almost claimed his life. We prayed and believed for his life on that crazy day when his fighter spirit kicked into overdrive, and in just 10 days, the specialists declared that he was “in remission.” Though we are still walking through this insane three-and-a-half-year journey with him, those months of living in the hospital were some of the craziest times of our lives. The only thing that seemed to light his countenance were the toys and gifts that people gave him. He received so many gifts that the nurses had to tell us to take some of his presents home because they were crowding his bed in the tiny hospital room. We snuck some home, but he wouldn’t allow us to take too many; they were such a source of joy to him.

Though my son was in the fight of his life, those terrible, condemning, comparative thoughts started up again, “What if I’m creating an ungrateful child? Maybe I should tell him about the children in Africa who have so little so that he doesn’t ask for or expect so much? Maybe the joy that he gets from these ‘things’ is teaching him to be unthankful.” In the light of the situation, I did the best that I could not to mention it.

Nine months later, he still asked us to get him a gift or toy that he desired. At times, we honestly could not buy him the things that he was asking for, and he understood, At other times, my own self-righteousness” to be the mother with the perfect children kicked in. My criticisms began, “Why are you so ungrateful?!? You always want something! You know some children have nothing!” I purposely avoided getting him anything even when I could. I told my husband, “He constantly asks for things! We need to teach him not to want so much!”

We did our best with his demands for gifts, but his behavior grew increasingly worse. I couldn’t figure out why he was acting this way. I limited sugar, tried to add more vitamins and greens to his diet and scheduled his day more, but nothing seemed to work. That was the day that I ended up in my bed in tears, praying, “God, please! Show me how to attain peace! I don’t want to lose connection with my child! I love him so much — and I can ‘control’ him now, but I feel like his heart is distant! How do create peace? How do I create connection?”

“I will quiet you with my love . . . . “

“Okay,” I thought. “I get it . . . I get it. I can control, schedule and put him on a diet — but nothing will have the effect on him that love will.” Is that to say that I didn’t love my child?! Absolutely not, but I wasn’t exercising love behind every parenting technique that I put into practice. I controlled his appetite for “wanting” by using intimidation because I was afraid that he would become ungrateful over the long term.

So I sat down with my son to have a heart-to-heart talk. “What is up, honey?”

I listened to his heart. He wanted a tiny pillow that he had seen at the store. Could I get it for him? At the time, I absolutely could but I was withholding it, so I decided to try an experiment. I bought him the pillow. I explained to him that I cannot buy him everything all the time but that I would buy or make him things whenever I could, and something miraculous happened. His behavior improved. He became a different child. He didn’t ask for everything anymore although he talked a lot about the gifts that he would get. He became an incredible helper around the home and compassionate toward the needs of others. It finally occurred to me that my son’s love language was “gifts.” He receives and shows love through the giving of gifts. He didn’t care that much about the pillow itself, even though he wanted it. Instead, he felt stifled when I badgered him and shut him down with accusations. He regularly brings me flowers picked from our yard and loves gifts from us in various forms. When that need is fulfilled in him he blossoms, but when it is suppressed, he completely disconnects.

Why was this so hard to figure out? Because gifts is not my love language. In fact, of all five love languages, gifts rates at the very bottom for me. It took the growth and maturity in me so that I could see my children as individuals. I not only needed to see them as individuals but myself as an individual to receive grace as a mother. Yes, we mothers need grace for ourselves! In the beauty of each creation produced from our passion and love with our spouse, we did not create a bunch of “mini-mes.” We created little individuals with their own unique gifts, annointings and love languages. Every individual meshes together to make up our family, which also makes up a unique culture all of our own — not to be compared with others but to be joined with others in community. We can all learn from each other and mostly, as parents, we can learn from our children. If you have a child who is disconnected, distant or defiant and if you are crying out for him or her, quiet the chaos with the love that God put in your heart for them. Seek out who they are. Be open to how they might be different from you in ways that you could never previously understand. Then watch them blossom and grow into the best version of themselves as you cooperate with God to release them into their identity, purpose and destiny.

To find out more about our guest author, Millie Radosti, visit her on social media! Click the link to find her on Facebook, Twitter: @MrsMillieJoy, Instagram: @MRS.MILLIEJOY

The Divine Union

After only being back in the USA for 14 days, 9 of which my preacher-man hubs was in fact, not in the USA, but rather New Zealand… I had the amazing privilege to share my heart at The School of the Supernatural hosted in Clarksville, TN. If that wasn’t exciting enough, I got to share along side of my Mother-In-Law and Sister-In-Law! We had a blast. It was a family affair.

So naturally, I want to share with you all what I spoke on… GLORIOUS MARRIAGE! The Divine Union.

In Genesis 2:18-25 (NLT) We see that this passage speaks to the creation of woman…

“Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man[a] to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.”

As we look through Genesis, we see that it was on the 6th day of Creation that God formed woman. After all of Creation had been put into place, God looked at man and said… it’s not good for him to be alone. What he did next, is somewhat perplexing… Because for most of creation God spoke it into existence or sang it into existence, BUT when He created man, he said let us make them in our image and in our likeness and it declares in Genesis 2:7, “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” Or another translation says, living soul.

God himself formed or fashioned man from the Earth and then breathed the breath of life, filling him with Heaven. Then out of the side of man, he took a rib and built woman.

Mark 10:6-9 (KJV), “But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

Twain, being such a fancy word for two… simply means y’all are no longer seperate… y’all are one and there is nothing that’s going to tear you apart -if God’s the one who put you together. (Matt 19:5, Eph. 5:31 are some great verses as well)

So, now that you know you are in this holy and divine union… how do you walk it out naturally? In the real. #realtalk

First, you need to Build A Solid Foundation! Just as you would have done as a single person cultivating your relationship with Jesus, you must now cultivate a firm foundation with your spouse, both naturally and spiritually. I believe, whatever you want to manifest in the natural you must first birth in the spirit…. So you have to cultivate it. How? I’m so glad you asked.

Pray Together: You must, must, must learn to pray together. In addition, get baptized in the Holy Spirit and pray together in the spirit, in heavenly tongues. (Acts 2:38) This will open you up to be sensitive in the spirit to one another and build a strong bond spiritually.

Often times I have newly married couples tell me they struggle with this… I have heard them say, ‘Well I need to pray alone. It is my personal relationship or well my husband/wife is shy and they don’t really want to. We have different styles of worship or praying…’ That’s great!! Keep being individuals. You can have all kinds of encounters with God separately, just don’t neglect the ones you have together. The key here is to be vulnerable and open, and allow the Holy Spirit to work it out and construct that foundation!!

Second way to walk out your Divine Union is through Communication! With the openness of praying together and expressing yourself spiritually to one another, communication is vital to the life of your marriage. Learn to communicate your needs or expressions without manipulation… because that is just plain witchcraft. Don’t try to butter up your husband or wife, trying to coerce the situation. And if you don’t tell him, he’s not going to know… it is just that simple. Men are not mind-readers and neither are women.

That may seem trivial or even an obvious point to you. But to others, who may have been raised by a Mother or Aunt or even Grandmother that manipulated her way through marriage to get the things she wanted, this is breakthrough for you! If you think of it in a parallel to your relationship to Jesus Christ, you aren’t going to work an angle to get his blessing or butter him up for forgiveness… NO! You are his Bride and his Wife and therefore, you are granted access to all that is his. You are a rightful heir to his goodness! The documents have been signed and legally there is a blood covenant (1 Cor. 6: 19-20). So just as that works with Christ, it should be reflective in your earthly marriages.

Ephesians 5: 22-28 (MSG) says it so beautifully, “Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands. Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage.”

Lastly, in walking out your Divine Union: Choose Honor. If you do the aforementioned in your communication, you will be deliberately choosing honor, which will then create an environment for your husband to fulfill those scriptures in Ephesians, for him to love you as Christ loves the church. You will also avoid the inevitable loss of respect and undermining of his authority in your home. You must make this a conscious choice and it does involve effort! Marriage isn’t for the faint of heart, it is for those willing to put in the work to see the glorious result.

So what is the result??

The result is a United Force, the Spirit of Unity resting and residing in your home and marriage. It is the Deuteronomy 32:30 – “One could put a thousand to flight and two could put ten thousand…” and Ecclesiastes 4:12, “A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”

You have literally become that three-cord strand comprised of you, your spouse and God interwoven together. Anything that tries to come against what you have agreed upon, can not stand. With this knowledge of being intertwined, not only in the natural sense but also the spirit, you have what I call the art of agreement, or the power to decree a thing and watch it come into existence.

Proverbs 18:21 “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

You have power in your words, and I will show you why…

Genesis 1:1-4 (AMP) reads, “In the beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned, and) created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good (suitable, pleasant) and He approved it; and God separated the light from the darkness.”

The light God spoke into existence in the beginning was not the Sun, Moon, Stars… because those were created on the 4th day of Creation. It was, in fact, the light of Christ, the Creative LIGHT! Therefore, it was not CREATED light, but rather CREATIVE.

John 1: 1-5 (AMP) reads, “In the beginning [before all time] was the Word ([a]Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God [b]Himself. He was present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being. In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it].”

This CREATIVE LIGHT dwells on the inside of us, if we have been spiritually reborn by Christ. And just as the Holy Spirit brooded over the waters of the deep before creation, so the Holy Spirit can brood over the waters of our Earth bodies! It is scientifically known that we are made up of 60-70% water in the natural… and John 7:38 (AMP) declares, “He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water.”

So in your marriage, you have the CREATIVE power in your words to “frame-up” or speak into existence or create. Whatsoever you decree over your life shall come to pass, in accordance with God’s Word. If you need healing in your body, you ought to decree health over yourself. If your spouse needs a job, declare provision and promotion into the atmosphere. This principle goes down even to the tiniest details of your life. That is why it is vitally important to speak life into your relationships and marriage; to speak life to your spouses spirit and physical body. To make decrees over your marriage and pray out scriptures over your life!!

Find some scripture promises that mean something to both of you and begin to decree them together. God’s word never returns void, it won’t come back empty handed… so what you speak out over each other and your families will come to pass.

Here are some I like to speak out loud:

Proverbs 18:22 “He who finds a wife finds a good thing AND obtains favor from the Lord!”

Psalm 118:17 (KJV) “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.”

Psalm 2:8 (NIV) “Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.”

Psalm 37:25 (KJV) “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”

Psalm 91:16 (NIV) “With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

1 Corinthians 2:16 (NLT) “For, “Who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.”

Marriage in its truest union is when you can look beyond yourself, past the fog of selfish desires, peering deep into another’s soul. Find the spark that ignites their destiny dreams and be the one who holds the match that creates the flame.

It is ultimately selflessness… You must be the one your spouse looks to, for support, for prayer, for insight and inspiration. When you look beyond yourself and see the bigger, grander picture or tapestry of your life that the Master Weaver would like to create, this will allow the limits to be taken off and for your dreams together to flourish!

Miracle Working Women

Earlier this month I was taken into a vision. In this vision, I was brought into the War Room of Heaven. A large mahogany table filled majority of the room with high back chairs surrounding it. I stepped through the open doorway and to the left. Along the walls are only what can be described as intricate woodwork, detailed pieces that stretched halfway up the walls. Weapons were hanging in these cabinet-like sections along the walls. There hung a long thin sword to the left and Jesus took it down and handed it to me. As he gave it to me I heard, ‘Arise to the brightness of his shining’… which I understood as, Isaiah 60:1, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.” I glanced up and there on the adjacent wall was a crossbow hanging and a men’s suit of armor. I heard, ‘It is the Sword of the Lord and the Cross of Christ!’

I then walked through another open doorway and stepped down into a stone room. It was bright and everything was made of a light gray stone and there were three steps down to the base of the floor. These three levels stretched the perimeter of the room. In the center of the room stood a three-tier water fountain. In this room I could see that I was wearing an all white linen dressing gown… one that would go under armor or maybe another more formal dress. Then I heard, ‘go and wash’. So I splashed my face and the top of my head with the water coming from the fountain. Lifting my face, I walked to the opposite side of the room and up the steps where Jesus stood. There he poured oil over the crown of my head and it ran down my linen garments. The oil didn’t absorb or soak up into the garment, but rather it flowed down it’s entirety. Then I heard the name Bridget, and kept hearing this name repeatedly throughout the night.

The scene changed and I was taken to an actual location in the natural where my family and I had ministered this past Spring. It was in Cumbria, which is a region in the northern part of England near Scotland and close to Ireland. As the vision continued, I saw these keys flying mid-air towards me and I reached out and grabbed hold of one. As I did, I realized it was the size of a shovel and I jammed it into the ground. The ground was not green and lush as you imagine it to be in the English countryside, it was rocky and dry. As I shoved the key into the ground, I turned it and the Earth began to crack all around. It felt as if I was unlocking something.

Since the Lord kept saying the name Bridget to me, I felt led to look into the meaning of the name. Personally, I come from both a French-Canadian bloodline, as well as, a Celtic bloodline and I sought the Lord for clarity if it had to do with my past or ancestry. Brigitte is the French form of Bridget, and often as a small child my Mother would call me this as a nick-name.

As I searched out the meaning, I came across this definition;

Name Origin: Irish, Meaning: “Strong Willed”. I found, “Bridget or Brigid is a Celtic/Irish female name derived from the noun brígh, meaning “power, strength, vigor, virtue”. An alternate meaning of the name is “exalted one”. Its popularity, especially in Ireland, is largely related to the popularity of Saint Brigid of Kildaire, who was so popular in Ireland she was known as “Mary of the Gael”. One of her epithets was “Brigid of the Holy Fire”.

As I began to look into Saint Brigid of Kildare, I discovered many interesting facts about her life that I felt were extremely pertinent. Saint Brigid, a contemporary of Saint Patrick and Columba, was mostly known as an Irish Christian nun, abbess (female bishop), and founder of several monasteries. Most famously, the one at Kildare (Church of the Oak). From an early age, she was dedicated to God and the work of His ministry. Her young life is shrouded with tales of supernatural experiences and mystical encounters. She was an extravagant giver, donating everything she had at times to others in need. Constantly giving to beggars and always having her supplies replenished by the Lord. Her legacy is one of hospitality.

In addition, Brigid is celebrated for the miraculous events that took place in her life and those that were associated with her. She along with seven of her companions are known for wearing all white as they committed their lives to Christ. Stories recount that people received physical healings in their bodies, social justices for women took place, and many souls were converted to Christ as she travelled by chariot throughout Ireland.

One of the more intriguing stories was that of Brigid seeking land from the King of Leinster. In this specific instance it is said that she told the king that the place on which she stood would be perfect for a convent. It was adjacent to a forest, which was useful for collecting firewood and berries. Also, a lake was not too far off and could provide water and the land was fertile for crops. The king laughed and refused to give Brigid any land. She smiled while praying the Lord would soften his heart and asked, “will you give me as much land as my cloak will cover?” He agreed to her seemingly ridiculous request. At once her four companions grabbed the garment and ran swiftly in opposite directions, the cloth began to expand and continued as they ran covering several acres of land. “Oh, Brigid!” said the king, “what are you about?” “I am, or rather my cloak is about covering your whole province to punish you for your stinginess to the poor.” “Call your maidens back. I will give you a decent plot of ground.” The king then gave her a plot of land and later became a Christian and helped with the poor and began the construction of the convent there. The legend goes that this particular convent became well-known for making jam from the local blueberries. The tradition is now for the followers of Brigid to eat jam on the 1^st of February in honor of this miracle. *

Her life was that of the supernatural, full of God’s miraculous power, generosity and leadership. To this day, Saint Brigid has a well in Kildare whose water is known for it’s healing properties and many have set out on a pilgrimage to this place. It is said in an excerpt from the ‘Book of Armagh’, “Between St. Patrick and Brigid, the pillars of the Irish people, there was so great a friendship of charity that they had but one heart and one mind. Through him and through her Christ performed many great works.”

Through this vision the Lord gave me I feel there are strategic points He would like to make regarding the coming season. First, I believe this is an encouragement to all women, to rise up and carry the Sword of the Lord and the Cross of Christ! We are stepping out of the war room into the battlefield. We will literally be women on the front lines and Brigid is a type and shadow of the women God is releasing in this generation. Women who will travel and go into the nations to work miracles and also build His Kingdom. They will do things in the spiritual realm, but also in the natural world. We have been prayer warriors in the secret place, but now God is releasing women into action.

The next significant point is the white garment. God is enrobing us with light, purity and righteousness that only comes from him. During this process in the vision there was a cleansing that took place and after this an anointing (Psalm 23:5,133:2).

“The LORD wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent.” Psalm 104:2 (NIV)

Just like the white garment of Saint Brigid of Kildare, that stretched out supernaturally, so God is wanting to stretch out your garment of purity as you take it to the nations! He is wanting to enlarge the place of your influence.

Isaiah 54:2 in the Amplified declares, “Enlarge the site of your tent [to make room for more children]; Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not spare them; Lengthen your tent ropes and make your pegs (stakes) firm [in the ground].”

He is stretching you out like that very cloak, in order to pour out of you His anointing oil to the dry and desert places. This leads me to the significance of the key. These keys that were almost flying towards me are symbolic of the ancient secrets that previous generations took hold of and walked out in their time. We are now grabbing hold of them and unlocking the ancient wells in the lands.

I sincerely believe that God is raising up an army of Miracle Working Women who have warred in the spirit, have been cleansed, anointed and enrobed with purity, who He is now entrusting with Keys to his Heavenly Kingdom to unlock in the Earth. We are at a time where apostolic, evangelistic and prophetic women, like Saint Brigid, will step out into their divine calling and destiny to take the land. Now is your time!

*Reference: Wikipedia;

Kennedy, Patrick. “St. Brigid’s Cloak”, Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts, 1891