My story

I love Rita Springer's music. For a while I wanted one of her CDs, but never could get one. Then, in 2007 my kids plotted to get me one for my birthday. It was a really great day. a Friday. We woke up to light snow on the ground, enough for the kids to play in, but with lots of grass sticking through. Then a friend called to say she was in labor. Guess what, kids? It's a snow day! They played in the snow while their dad worked at home and I went off to the birth. My friend had complications and I ended up staying overnight to help her out. 

I walked in the door to my house almost exactly 24 hours after I left. The kids all met me with silly grins on their faces. Music was playing on my computer, not an uncommon occurrence in my home. One of my boys was sitting at my desk, and after just a few seconds they couldn't contain themselves anymore. "What song is that, Mama?" I don't even remember who asked me or what song it was, but I knew it was Rita Springer. "Happy Birthday!" they all shouted. They had gotten their dad's help to download her CD Created To Worship from iTunes. Can I say I have great kids?

I spent the rest of the weekend playing that CD over and over again. I love the whole album but one song in particular struck me right away, Phenomenon. My church was hosting a special guest who was leading prophetic services on Saturday and Sunday. The whole song resonated with me because, while I wanted to hear a word from the Lord, I wanted to have a right attitude about prophecy and manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Here's just a couple of stanzas.

I am not here just to see a phenomenon

I am not here for experiential bliss

I simply come to the feet of the God I serve

The one that I love …

I am not here for the sake of a miracle

I am not here just to see the dead raised

Yes, I believe in power supernatural

But that's not why I'm saved

The Lord did speak to me that weekend but I didn't quite understand at the time what He was saying. On Monday afternoon, though, I got it. My husband came home from one job on his way to the other (he almost always worked more than one job in 19 years of marriage, and still we couldn't make it) and confessed to getting a woman from work pregnant. My immediate response was not anger, which would have been normal for me. I said very calmly and completely unlike me, "I'll have to pray and see what God wants me to do." God knew just what I needed at the time and He worked it all out. What really amazes me is how He was preparing me for the blow before I knew it was coming. He spoke to me through our special guest that weekend, and He motivated my kids to give me a Rita Springer CD for my birthday. She got me through the next year of my life.