Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas!!!


Hello friends,

One more year of my life has gone by! It’s been a good one. So much better than last year! Last year was a severe physical and emotional battle for me, as most of you may not have heard about. That often tends to stay off of Facebook, as I prefer to share my happy moments online rather than the not so happy ones. But victory has come in almost every one of those areas! Because of that, the year of 2010 has been so much happier for me! And I praise my Daddy in heaven for that; he has been so good to me.

I’ve learned much this year, encountered much this year, played much this year, rested much this year.  God has opened the floodgates of favour on me, and I hardly know what to do with some of it! I’m still learning how to handle favour; but favour’s the key word this year, it seems. And it’s culminating in a mission trip at the beginning of next year to Sierra Leone, Africa, where I will have the opportunity to minister to the President, First Lady, and other officials of the country! (I would love to have prayer support as well as financial support for this trip, if anyone feels led to do so.)

Here in school we were told to write our List of 100 Dreams. It sounds fun and easy, and to one extent it is. But believe me, after writing down 25 dreams, what else do you want to write? I’ve already written down 78; I’m aiming to have a full 100 on my list. The crazy thing is, when you write down those dreams and have them hanging beside your bed on the wall where you continuously see them… things start coming true! Here are the dreams that I’ve had the chance to strike out as DONE from my list, as of this year:

#4: Go to Kenya.
#5: Be the first white person that someone sees.
#29: Show Jesus’ love to a prostitute.
#33: See cancer healed by my command.
#34: See blind eyes open.
#35: Watch cataracts disappear from someone’s eyes.
#43: Have an out-of-body experience.
#45: Do a ministry trip with Joaquin Evans.
#52: Prophesy over Miley Cyrus.
#65: Do a ministry trip to Europe.
#66: Hear angels sing audibly.
#69: See anything in the Spirit realm in the PHYSICAL with my eyes.

So, that’s TWELVE dreams of my 100 Dreams that have already happened the same year that I wrote them down!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Jesus! Your Daddy wants your dreams to come true too! Start writing them down, so that when they happen, you can feel the pleasure of marking them off!

I want to bless you and encourage you this Christmas/New Year to seek God’s face with all your time, all your heart, soul, and strength. He has secrets he reveals only to those who follow hard after Him. It is his joy to reveal himself to you as your Daddy. It is His delight to encounter you in a way that changes your life. And it’s Jesus’ will to transform you into his likeness. He will take you from glory to glory, it only gets better! And Holy Spirit is wanting to lead you into all truth!

Merry Christmas friends! Blessings, joy, and peace to you!

Love, Crystal.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

What a Little $3 gift can do!


On the flight home  from Minnesota, I had the chance to pay for a young lady’s snack. She was sitting behind me, and I overheard her asking the stewardess for food. The stewardess said there was only snacks to buy, no free meals. (This girl had a hard time speaking English, so the stewardess was taking extra care for her).

“You can only pay by credit or debit card,” the stewardess said. “No cash.”

“I have only cash,” said the worried girl. “I will not eat.”

“Oh honey, you’re starving,” said the stewardess. “Listen, I will just pay for you with my card and you can give me cash.” The stewardess explained that this was not actually legal, but she’d do it for her this time because she simply had to eat.

I right away had the urge to pay for her. After all, this was only a $3 snack! I dug out my wallet and found my Visa card. I caught up to the stewardess and held out my card. “Please allow me to pay for the girl sitting behind me, for the snack.”

The stewardess said it was fine, she’d already arranged to pay with her own card and etc.

“No,” I insisted. “I want to pay for her. I want to actually buy her snack for her.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m certain.”

“You are so kind.”

So she took my card and brought the hungry girl a selection of snacks. The stewardess explained to her that I was going to be paying for her snack. She was surprised and wanted to refuse, but I insisted. She seemed to have misunderstood me, for she began pulling out cash from her wallet. She handed me a $10. I said no. “I just want to bless you. You eat.” She accepted, and devoured her snack.

When the flight was almost over, she poked my arm to get my attention.  “Thank you so much! You was like an angel. Kind.”

“No problem it’s my pleasure.” I said.

When we had landed, she touched my shoulder again. In her hand was a new CD. “For you,” she said, smiling gratefully.

I was surprised that she so readily had a gift on her ready to give on such an occasion. I accepted the gift to honour her. Then I noticed that the picture on the cover of the  CD looked very much like her. The name of the artist read LuÍsa Maita. “Is this you?” I asked.

She nodded. “It is mine.”

“Are you LuÍsa?” I asked.

“Yes, I LuÍsa,” she answered. “I wanted to sign, but there’s not time now.”

“My name is Crystal.” We shook hands. She said she’s from Brazil. “Maybe if we meet after getting off the jet,” I said. “If there’s time. If not, I’m so glad to have met you.”

As I walked off the plane, the stewardess thanked me for my kindness. I kept going off the plane, but saw out of the corner of my eye that the stewardess was talking to the other attendants/captain, pointing at me and saying, “That was her.”

In the airport I was on my way to the bathroom when a lady I hadn’t seen before approached me. She said, “Hey, I just wanted to say that that’s a very kind thing you did on the plane, paying for the girl’s food.”

“Oh thank you!” I said. “It was entirely my pleasure, you know?”

“Oh I know it was. I was going to do the same, but then I saw you already got it. So thanks. It was really sweet of you.”

I went with my team to a restaurant in the airport, and there I saw LuÍsa by herself at a table! Seeing my opportunity to get the CD signed, I went over to her. She willingly signed it, now that there was more time. She wrote: “Thank you Crystal. You was an angel with me.” I gave her my email address, and then she had to hurry off to find her next flight.

Ahh… it’s crazy what a TINY little bit of $3 kindness will do to everyone around. It seems to have affected a lot of people. I didn’t try to get any recognition or anything. I just felt compassion for this Brazilian girl who had no means to pay for a little $3 snack when she was very hungry. Lars (my team member) later told me he’d heard LuÍsa tell the man sitting beside her what was going on—she had missed her previous flight and hadn’t been able to buy food before boarding. It had been a terrible day and nothing had gone well today for her. So she was in need of an angel today! God is so good. Kindness is so fun!

After I got home, I looked LuÍsa Maita up online. I discovered she is indeed a Brazilian recording artist who is right now on concert tour in all of North America!!!! She’s touring Canada, USA, and Mexico. She was at the time on her way to San Fransisco for her next concert.