February 20th is a day I won't easily forget. 12 years ago on this day, my life would begin a drastic shift, that I had no idea was coming.
But let me take you back just a bit to tell you the back story. It was Dec 2008. I had been living in CA for 6 years, and I was more ready to move back to the South than I can even say. I had been in 6 long years of ministry and life training, and I was so ready for this intense training season to be over! I wanted to be gone by my birthday on Feb 11th. However, as I was visiting my mother for Christmas, upon waking early one morning, I heard the Lord say "You will not leave CA before March 1st".
I was disheartened to say the least. I had been feeling the time was coming for me to move for over 6 mths, and in that time I had become very much ready to get back to what I considered "home" (somewhere in the Southeast).
I asked the Lord why I couldn't be gone before my birthday. I heard no further answer, but I knew what I had heard, and that the Lord wasn't changing His mind about what He had said. There was a reason I needed to stay. So I did. After my Christmas break, I planned my exit, and told the ministry/church I worked with that I would be moving, but not until March 1st.
So why did I have to wait, you may ask? Well, there was a Divine appointment that I didn't know I had. When I came back in Jan, the Pastors I worked for asked me to help set up a meeting with Dr. Oral Roberts in his home there in So Cal. It would be with Dr. Oral and several ministers who would fly in to meet with him. I had done this very type of meeting with them before, so I knew what all was needed. I asked when they wanted it to be. Sometime before the end of February. The meeting was scheduled for Feb 20th, 2009, a little over a week before I was scheduled to leave.
What I didn't realize is that Dr. Oral would end up laying hands on me, and praying for
my husband to come into my life during that strategic meeting that day. He prayed that we would have a marriage and ministry like he and Evelyn had. I met Darin less than 6 mths later when I moved to GA...and the rest they say is history.
I thank the Lord that I waited. I thank him for allowing me to be with Dr. Oral one final time before he passed later that year. I thank the Lord that His timing is perfect, and although we make our plans, He orders and directs our steps..if we let Him. 😉🙏 Thank you, Lord, for your goodness and faithfulness to me!
* The first pic (tan animal print) is of Dr. Oral praying for me on that fateful day, Feb 20th, 2009, 12 years ago today.
The 2nd pic was from another similar meeting in Dr. Oral's home sometime in 2008.
Amanda Shiflett ~ Prophetic Reformer
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