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As we are approaching Christmas and the end of 2008, I am currently thinking about what I am going to do in my quiet time in 2009. I love thinking about what I’m going to use as my Bible reading plan. And then, I also like to think about the devotionals I will keep in my quiet time basket to use at different times throughout the year. Finally, I am thinking about the books I want to read through this next year. Right now I’m a bit torn because I am currently studying women in the Bible and would like to continue. So I’ll probably keep reading some of the books I have on that topic. But I also want to study grace, spiritual growth, and discipleship. Now you might be thinking, “Cath, how in the world can you study ALL those things - isn’t that a LOT?” Well, yes, but I will most likely end up on one main topic. I like to have a choice and then, of course, I am looking to the Lord to lead me as I spend time with Him. So right now I’m praying about these choices and then I’ll share in the next week or so what I’m going to include in my quiet time. I encourage you to be thinking through your quiet time for 2009. What is going to be your Bible reading plan? In other words, how are you going to be in the Word of God each day? Have you chosen a devotional Bible or a Bible study book? Or maybe you are using a Bible reading guide. These are trying times and we surely need to be in the Word of God to hear the Lord speak to us and teach us each day. We need His guidance and direction more now than ever before. I included the picture above because I think of the reviving waters of God and His Word through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives - “times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). I’m praying for all of you that God will do great and mighty things in your life. May the Lord richly bless you in 2009!!!

You may have wondered where my blog was for the last six days or so. Well you just won’t believe it - my blog got hacked into and wiped out. Thanks to the great support team at Hostgator who are the best service providers around IMHO, I have an updated Wordpress version and I only lost one post, which I rewrote and posted. I call it a good bend in the road. You know the saying - a bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you fail to take the turn. Well, in a way, I’m glad all this happened because now my software is updated and I have a lot more features. So, in the months to come, I’ll be adding different things to my blog that will help me display more of my photography etc. Behind every picture I post, there are usually at least 25 more pictures I’d love to make viewable. So I’d like to have a gallery among other things. I say it’s going to take me months because I’ve got book editing to do, message writing, and we’ll be filming two new series of messages for my new books on Passionate Prayer, set for release February 1, 2009. So Cath’s Blog is now up and running again. Thank You Lord!

Last Thursday, the Lord gave me the blessed opportunity to share the gospel with 1500 women at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. If I could only share one more message, this would be the one I would share. I began by asking those familiar words from the Christmas song, “Do you see what I see?” And then I said, “I see broken hearts, wounded hearts, burnt-out hearts, hungry hearts, and searching hearts.” And then I talked about a conversation I had with a guy at a restaurant who told me he is an agnostic. He then came out of the restaurant and asked to talk more with me about God! We talked for an hour. Then I shared my own testimony about how the Lord pursued me, knocked on the door of my heart, and finally, one day, I responded to His overtures to me. And my life has never been the same - it moved from a journey to an adventure - what I call, the great adventure of knowing God. I shared how forgiveness of sins and eternal life is the great gift of God made possible by the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Son of God came to earth for the purpose of dying on that cross to pay the penalty for our sins. And when we receive Him into our lives, surrender ourselves to Him, trusting Him for forgiveness and eternal life, we are born again and the Holy Spirit now indwells us, makes us a new person, and gives us new life. I then prayed a simple prayer at the end of my message: Lord Jesus I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I ask You now to come into my life, forgive my sins, and make me the person You want me to be. At the end of the evening, women were lined up to meet with the prayer team at the front of the room. I had the opportunity to hug women of all ages who, with tears in their eyes, had sensed the Lord at work in their hearts. A powerful team of women there at Calvary Chapel were praying for our evening, and you know what, I could tell. And this is what I love about ministering together with other women - we are a team - and God is the One at work among us. To God be the glory!

The fog rolled in and I walked out on the porch and saw this amazing sunrise. I grabbed my little Canon camera and started taking pictures. This place where I’ve been writing has a view of the harbor and for the last two days a bunch of ships have been coming in - when they do, they let everyone know with the sound of their horn. Very loud. But the sunrises are incredible shining through the fog. Sometimes the fog is so heavy you can’t see the sun at all. And yet, the sun is still there. Life is like that - sometimes it’s as though the windows are painted black and you are forced, like a ship in the fog, to fly by instruments only. For us, our radar is the Word of God. And God does teach us to walk by faith, not by sight - that’s what it means to fly by instruments only.

Couldn’t resist sharing that comparison of living by faith to the fog. As you know, when I haven’t written on my blog for a few weeks, it can only mean one thing - I’m writing a book. Well, I’ve just finished my new book, A Woman’s Heart That Dances, set for release by Harvest House Publishers sometime in fall 2009. What a joy it has been to write this book and I cannot wait to see it in print. And now, onward and upward.