Day 134 – Warren Wysocki

https://www.facebook.com/groups/muchgrace/

“Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you’ll live as you were meant to live—and everyone in your house included!” (Acts 16:31 MSG)

I wrote recently about how this Scripture became alive to me. I also mentioned that I really felt the Lord asking me to ask YOU the question - what does it mean to you?

Here's another magnificent response from a very dear sister in the UK.

5 years ago at a church weekend away the Lord gave me a picture. It was of me sitting on a netball bench. This happened often as a child … I had no choice! Sitting in the cold in my bottle green gym slip! Never being picked to play.

But this picture was different. The teacher approached the bench and picked me first! To be the captain!

I pondered the picture and told it to my husband. The next day, he asked my vicar: “What does Jo have to do to become a vicar?”

I had been called 3 times before. Once at 18, but to have a woman as a priest was not allowable. Once at 28 when women were allowed but not, as I had been divorced, and lastly at 41 … but my son had just told me he was transsexual. I needed to support him through transition (another audible command from God).

It was beautiful that God used my new husband of 9 years to interpret the picture God had given me at Ashburnham that day.

But God didn’t stop communicating. After being released from my sending Diocese, we asked God, “Where should we serve?” And felt called to the North of England. As we reached the top of the M25, my husband asked, “How will we know?”

I explained that maybe we should put out a fleece.. “What’s that?” He asked. And I urged him to read the story of Gideon (Judges 6). Where he asks for a sign from God in the form of dew on a Fleece.

Dale announced our fleece would be Flamingo ! I love it how God speaks to us in our own language. Mine is certainly “pink and fluffy”. We had planned to do a tour of the north and concentrated on cities with cathedrals. We stopped off at Telford, Liverpool, Chester, York and Wakefield and saw not even a glimpse of a feather! Even in the Cathedrals!

After 8 days we ended up at my brother's in Leeds for our final weekend. Friday went by, and Saturday morning. Dale and I wondered if we had heard correctly from God…. Then… On Saturday afternoon, I sat in the lounge with my niece, who was watching a program about Hippos with David Attenborough. “Don’t watch Auntie… the Hippos are doing rude things”, she giggled. I covered my eyes, and as I brought my hands back down a huge flock of flamingos landed on the lake behind the hippos. Of course, it was Lake Nikuru … the place I had been when I was 18, visiting my missionary Auntie in Kenya.

I called to Dale and we agreed that just as Gideon needed to see the sign more than once … so did we… we agreed we needed to see our sign 3 times. Just 15 minutes later we walked into the Kitchen and there … hanging in the oven door were my brothers oven gloves and yes you’ve guessed it… their pattern was pink flamingoes. Number 2. We smiled at each other…

Then…. Nothing….

The next day was our last day. We packed up the car to return home and headed to church in Leeds. The service was wonderful and the sermon was illuminating as the preacher (a doctor of geology) brought the biblical creation story alive in conjunction with the story of Balaams Ass! I felt the need to speak with her.

As I approached her, we just hugged. As we hugged, she said, “ Have you put out a Fleece?!” I said, “How did you know?” “tell me what it is”. I urged her not to laugh if I told her and said, “Flamingo”. She laughed! Amongst her laughter, she managed to explain … I run the cafe down the road called Flamingoes … it welcomes those from the LGBTQI+ community”.

This is the community God has called me to. Dale and I headed home, knowing Leeds was where we needed to be.

Leeds diocese is big, huge! Two and half hours drive from one side to the other but, to cut a long story short, I will be ordained on June the 29th and start my curacy in Kippax , just 5 miles from my brother’s home!

God is reuniting us. I guess the most moving part to my testimony happened only a few weeks ago when I went and visited my now very elderly missionary auntie and told her about the flamingoes. I thought she would laugh at my childish tale but when I had finished my tale I looked up and she was crying. “Don’t you remember ?” She said to me. When we went to Lake Nakuru we had missed the flamingos. They had flown, but you picked up a handful of the pink feathers left behind and told me, “One day these will be special to me!””

My tears fell too as I realised that my journey had not been since the weekend away … My first calling at 18 was all part of the same story and all that had happened in between was preordained by my Lord.

Pray for me at the age of 51 - 33 years on - as I am finally ordained and can continue my ministry with those whom God has called me to. “Those who have been hurt by The Church”.

Isn't that just wonderfully encouraging? Come on, send me YOURS now ... you can see from the recent testimonies that they are such an encouragement to all those reading them ...

Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. Christ-conquerors are safe from Devil-death.” (Rev 2:11)

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URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS

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