Answered Prayer

Don’t you just hate those days; you know where nothing really seems to work according to plan. I find them so annoying don’t you?

Today was no exception, after a pretty sleepless night Son knocked on the door to ask for a lift to work; his colleague was sick today. I grumbled as I looked out of the window, it was such thick fog outside and I was having people round for a writers meeting this morning, I had not even planned it yet! But you know what they say about the best made plans? Due to weather conditions that ended up not happening as people had so far to travel. But on the bright side that gave me a chance to catch up on all the washing and ironing. Since returning from our trip to South Africa the piles of laundry seem to be getting higher and higher!

After putting the washing in, I made some tea and listened to a favorite song. It is a special one as it reminds me of what led me to writing ‘On Earth as it is in Heaven.’ My little miracle as I like to call it. Well it’s true. I never thought it possible that I could ever do such a thing as write a book. I grinned, its amazing what you can do when you take a leap of faith!

I found myself singing along to the song, ‘in the evening I will fly you to the moon to the top right hand corner of the ceiling in my room, where we will stay until the sun shines.......chasing rainbows across the water.’

I found my mind wandering back to June 2007 (I remember the date as I had written about it in the book) to that wonderful vision, I call it a vision but it could have been a dream; anyway it had proved to be a life changing event for me. I remember I had had trouble sleeping that night too. But for different reasons back then. I had just received a reply to my letter sent to South Africa, saying that it would not be possible to meet my birth father. ‘As a mother’ the letter had read, ‘you must understand it would be too much of a shock for our daughter.’ As I lay in bed that night I had felt a tear trickle from the corner of my eye. ‘Why was I even bothered about this?’  I argued with myself. I had never met the man and anyway, I had a wonderful family. I sighed why did feelings have to get so complicated?

Then something quite remarkable happened. As I wiped the tear away I felt another spring out and then another, and another. Suddenly there were tears running all down my face but I wasn’t crying. I know it sounds strange but I could feel this soothing sensation. It was as if my tears were soothing me. It was then I felt someone wiping my tears away.

I looked up and gasped in recognition. ‘These are my tears and they will heal you,’ He said.

I felt they were caressing my whole face and it filled me with a sense of such love and peace.

‘Come child,’ He said to me, ‘Take my hand and walk with me, for you are my child. I will fill your heart with my love, and heal all your hurts.’

We walked only a few steps, and holding my hand we stepped up onto a steel platform. Like an elevator it went up and up. The darkness of my bedroom had long gone. Suddenly we were out in the bright sunshine. He raised His hand up towards the heavens.

‘Stand up and look,’ He said smiling at me, ‘look what I have for you.’ I looked up high into the sky. Above me was a line of liquid gold, it was stretched across the sky. Then before my eyes it ran down like a small waterfall in front of me, I was totally mesmerized, it was so beautiful. I really didn’t know what to say, I was so consumed by this feeling of love. So I simply thanked Him for His love and for all the good things He had given me. I thanked Him for my husband. ‘I have always thought of him as a gift from above,’ I said.

‘Ah yes, I gave you a good one there, didn’t I?’ He replied. I thanked Him for my two beautiful children, ‘They are such a blessing to me.’

I saw Him smile. ‘I know the plans I have for you’ He said, ‘I have also placed a sister for you.’ I knew immediately who she was. ‘Take care of her,’ He said.

He waved to me and smiling walked off ahead, but I knew he had not gone. His hand was in mine always. The next thing I knew I was sitting under a beautiful tree, the leaves were all around me, as the wind blew gently the leaves rustled. I heard them whisper, ‘Write write.’

‘Write, write,’ they whispered again.

I thought this is the tree of life. This is my chance to make my life worthwhile. The Lord is leading me to live my best life from now on. What a blessing! I was then reminded of a verse from a book I had been reading. It was as if the words suddenly flashed in front of me:-

‘And on either side of the river was there the tree of life………. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.’                                                                                              Revelation 22:2

Well this is now October 2012. I have just returned from a holiday in South Africa, and it had proved to be a life changing event. I had spent two glorious weeks meeting my sister and her family.

As I sat sipping my tea I re-read the card she had given me as we had parted at the airport.

‘To be able to call someone sister has changed my life.’ The rest of the message, as it is personal, I will keep to myself, but I have to confess it really touched my heart.

And while we are on the subject of the heart I would also like to confess another one of my prayers. It had been: 'I want to help change peoples lives. If everybody had a touch from Heaven what a much nicer place the world would be. I want to help people to be the best they can be.'

It had seemed such a big prayer back then, in 2007.

But here now in 2012, I know He heard me.

He helped me to do what was best and then He done the rest.

So I conclude my story with a prayer.

I pray for you who are reading this

I pray that you receive a touch from Heaven too.

Because one touch from Heaven is all it takes to change your life.

God answers all prayers.

Put the date down.

See what happens.

Who knows?

He knows.

Yours Truly

Julie.

Other inspirations can be read in ‘On Earth as it is in Heaven’ by Julie Prentice £8.99. Available on Amazon or email julie.jules2007@hotmail.co.uk for stockists. 

Every Good and Perfect Gift

I was having a bit of a read this morning, the writer finished with the words ‘Do not ask yourself what you want, but ask Me what I want. Desire the same things and you shall become like Me. And this to, is my highest desire for you.’

I smiled, it reminded me of when I was young, Mum and Dad would always laugh and say, Julie you want to do so many things, and before I knew it I had this nick name ‘Julie I want’ It has stuck with me ever since, even now when I start dreaming and planning Dad will roll his eyes and say ‘don’t you think your getting a bit old to be wanting to do that?’ I know he means well but I know my Heavenly Father sees me differently, lots of the dreams and desires I have must be God given because since I found my faith in 2005 I seem to attempt to have a go at a lot more things than I used to, (sometimes I even find myself asking why on earth am I doing this?) I think the answer comes from His word; ‘We are made in God’s image’ so from a heavenly view point the question I ponder today is what does God want of me?

As I cleared away the clutter I keep thinking to myself I really must pick up my pen and start writing again, but can I be honest with you, with everything that has been going on lately I am finding it so hard to actually get myself into that place where I can actually sit myself down and write something, what with the busyness of our last Beauty & Belief event finally over, I feel I just want to chill out and catch a breath but something keeps nudging me, you know like, something is tugging at my heart strings and can you believe it, it is as though I hear a whisper in my ear saying ‘have you forgotten your first love?’

 I frowned ‘forgotten my first love?’ What on earth does that mean? I really don’t understand. So I stopped, sat down and thought about it. As I sipped my tea I found my mind unraveling and before I knew it I was  wandering down that place, I am sure you know it well, I call it memory lane. I sighed, ‘memories’ it’s something we all have isn’t it? Whatever our age whatever our gender we all have memories, some are good, some are not so good and I have to confess thinking back over my own life some can be down right embarrassing!

But getting back to that word ‘first love’ now that I am forcing myself to think about this at school my favorite subject had been English, at the word school a sudden vision sprang to mind of my High School English Teacher, it is so vivid I can actually see myself back in that classroom, my teacher holding up my folder and commenting on my work. I remember going bright red at the time. It had been part of my GCE exam; I think the modern term for it is today is ‘course work.’ I smiled yes I suddenly remember my teacher asking if he could keep my course work. I had simply replied of course, I would be starting work soon. What need had I for that working in an insurance office? Anyway the enjoyment had been in putting everything together. I saw him smile and thank me and say he would use it as an example for his new students next term.

Why had I remembered that today?

It was then the phone rang so I was distracted for a while, but upon returning to my quest, I still did not have the answer. ‘Where is this all going, what is the point of this?’ I prayed.

As I re-read my words I find my eye drawn to the word ‘course.’  I had used it twice, once in regard to my work, (course work) and once in answer to a question (of course)

 I have to admit I had a bit of a giggle then as I remembered my teacher calling mum up the school because I had been adamant that I was going out to work. I needed to earn now, my school days were over, and besides it would have been a huge financial pressure on my family to send me to university. But bless her, Mum had seen my teacher and said I could go if I wanted to, they would manage it somehow.  Looking at Mums face I felt otherwise so I had stuck to my guns and said NO.

Why was I thinking of this? It had been so many years ago.

 It was then I heard that voice again, ‘do you regret it now?’ It probed.

I have to confess I hadn’t really thought about it. I guess I’m a person who likes to focus on what I have, not what I missed, what on earth is the point of that anyway? What a waste of time. I hate wasting time!

I gasped! I suddenly got the revelation, there was a point to all this. My Heavenly Father was pointing out that despite my decisions all those years ago whether right or wrong nobody could take away what was mine, my God given gifts. When we live in God’s will all will go well for us. He will always get us back on track- even if like me it takes nearly 40 years!

I felt all humble then, it made me realize how patient God is. But as I started to dwell on it my family sprang to mind. I smiled, I understood, if my life had gone any other way I might not have had them. That thought was unbearable; they make my life complete and whilst on the subject of family I am really excited as we will be jetting off to South Africa soon!

Yes with my hubby and children we will be visiting pastures new, plus meeting new family members too.

Life, treasure it.

 It is a gift from God

As it is written in James 1:17

‘Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights’

That means YOU and your life too.

 I sighed, I felt so heavenly

There is so much beauty in belief.

Yours Truly

Julie

 

Other inspirations can be read in ‘On Earth as it is in Heaven’ by Julie Prentice £8.99. Available at Amazon or email julie.jules2007@hotmail.co.uk for stockists. 

A Touch from Heaven

It is now May 2012. What a year this is turning out to be! First the event- the launch evening of our mission Beauty & Belief, what an evening, it way exceeded all my expectations! We sold all the tickets and from the feed back received everybody had a good time. What an amazing blessing!

I think we all like to feel blessed, don’t we? But this year is proving to me that blessings can come in many different disguises. Yes the Lord works in mysterious ways, His wonders to unfold and now I think He wants these little escapades of mine to be told.

I have to be honest; it took a real leap of faith to put on the event. As I said on the evening, Beauty & Belief started with eight girls in my living room, that’s fine, but as the ticket sales started to soar I felt my heart give not a roar but a feeling of uproar as I remembered the last time I had put on an event. It was way back in the nineties. OK it had been a different kind of beauty event, but I recall as I had stepped onto the stage at Carrow Road I suddenly felt my heart freeze and I could hardly breathe let alone speak! The outcome being that I said I would never do anything like that again!

I shook myself, ‘No good will come of having these thoughts now! The tickets are sold I am not that person anymore.  I have help from on high, I am Kingdom living and I will not be afraid,’ as I said these words I felt my heart swell. ‘Quite right my child,’ I heard my inner voice confirm, ‘and remember my promise, hold onto the promise for I never lie, I speak only truth.’

I at once felt myself relax as the peace of God that transcends all understanding began to fill my heart and my soul.

As the big day approached all seemed to be going to plan, the models dresses fitted perfectly, not a stitch needed to be sown; my daughter, bless her, had helped organize the girls and they all looked so beautiful, so dare I say it I felt myself start to relax. Now hear me right on this, rest and relaxation is a wonderful thing but something told me to have a bit of a fast and to guard my heart there may be a bit of a battle as yet. As if to confirm it as I lay in my bed that night I had such a strange vision but as the angels were there I felt there was nothing to fear.

It was a few days later that the truth of the matter began to unfold. It was evening time, I had just finished my tea when the telephone rang, I noticed it flashed ‘International’ (another caller trying to sell me something, I sighed to myself) so to be honest although I found it strange that I answered it at all, I was not in a very receptive mood. ‘Is this Julie?’ the caller anxiously asked. ‘Who wants her?’ I heard myself reply, trying to sound most business like. The voice became more persistent. ‘Are you Julie?’ she questioned me again. For some reason I heard myself reply, ‘Yes.’

It was then I got the bombshell. ‘I am your sister. I am sorry to have to tell you this, but our father has died,’ as the voice rushed on, I have to admit I found it hard to comprehend. I had never met him, this so called father of mine, but I heard myself confess that we had corresponded from time to time.  ‘Well he left me the keys to his briefcase,’ my sister explained, ‘and when I opened it I found your letters. I knew nothing about you, I am so sorry to have to tell you this.’

 It was then I felt a strange sensation, as if to say it proved that he had cared, and I felt my heart go out to this unknown sister of mine, but before I could reply she jumped in and said, ‘My heart is beating so fast because I have always wanted a big sister and now I am speaking to you. I am coming to England soon.’

It was as if our hearts had collided. ‘Then you must come and meet me and my family,’ I heard myself reply.

As I put down the phone I was reminded of the promise, and also of the letter from God TV, way back when I had finished my book, I will never forget that date,  it had been 29^th February 2008;-

‘May your dreams and visions that have been revealed to you by God the Father come to fruition. May your basket always be filled with the provision of the Lord. May your hands prosper at every turn. May you grow old in grace and may God’s favour continually surround you.’

Well May is turning into quite a month. My son who was awarded his maths degree last year has been unable to get a full time job, but I have to say he has been blessed. He has had voluntary work and a paid part time job. The week before my sister’s arrival he was short listed and had a second interview for a full time job. It transpired it was between him and one other. He had to wait until after the bank holiday to hear if he had got it. I prayed for him and felt sure he would hear on Wednesday. I even told him so. Wednesday came but alas, no phone call came from this company.

However, after having a conversation with Son he told me in his disappointment he had sent his CV out to several agencies yesterday and one of them had just contacted him today (Wednesday). I patted my son’s hand; what can I say? Life is not easy for the young these days. ‘Remember God knows the plans He has for you,’ I soothed.

Thursday was the big day, the day of my sister’s arrival. As I stood on the platform of Norwich Station I just knew my life would never be the same again and so for now I will keep this adventure close to my heart. We are building a new foundation and I need to savour it

As for my Son-I believe his journey as a man has now fully begun. The agency phoned again, they had passed on his CV. The company offered him the job there and then-No interview required. In these days where the media tells us there are 100’s of people chasing one job as my mum put it, it sounds a bit funny. Well this is a world wide company. There is nothing funny about them at all and as I watched my son walk into their reception for his first day I just knew this was meant to be.

‘Thank you my Heavenly Father,’ I prayed, I feel so humble and so blessed. As the words left my mouth I was suddenly reminded of an extract from my book, it had been a time with my mother-in-law, when we had sat together in church in the spring of 2007. Let me share:-

‘The message that night had been about finding your ministry and how God would put you in the right shoes for you. As we sat listening Mum-in-law nudged me to look at the sign above the stage. It read: ‘I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.’

 She had that twinkle in her eye again, ‘That’s for you,’ she whispered. I laughed and squeezed her arm. Bless her she always made me feel happy. ‘It is,’ she said seriously, ‘wait and see, God knows.’  

I think I will sign off now. I will leave you with that pearl of wisdom from my mother-in-law. I know my mum-in-law always prayed for us. I believe my father did too even though I never knew him.

I am praying for every person who is reading this.

God sees everything

He knows you are reading this so he knows I am praying for you

God answers all prayers

Put the date down

See what happens

WHO knows?

GOD KNOWS.

God Bless you

Yours truly

Julie
 

Other inspirations can be read in ‘On Earth as it is in Heaven’ by Julie Prentice £8.99. Available at Amazon or email julie.jules2007@hotmail.co.uk for stockists. 

On Earth as it is in Heaven

Since inviting people to our event, 'Beauty & Belief'  I have had several people question me about my book, 'On Earth as it is in Heaven' as to what is it actually about. Well I don't want to say too much as I would rather that you read it for yourself, but here are some clues. 

Is there more to life than the here and now, what we have on this earth?
This is a subject that has been discussed throughout the ages, since in fact life first began.
We all have our own views and opinions, and we have all heard stories of many different kinds.
So do you believe there is a hereafter?
Do you believe it is possible for Heaven to touch us here on Earth?
We live in an imperfect world. As we journey through life things happen to us. Happiness hurt loss rejection, you know them all I am sure.
They make us the person we are today.
But what if you woke up one night and felt like you went on a journey somewhere else?
To a place that filled you with horror beyond belief, and then another night to a place that filled you with such total love and peace?
How would you feel? What would you do?
I think you would want to share that story.
Wouldn't you?

 And as a personal note the back cover reads:

Dear Reader
This book has been written for you. It has been written not by me, but by the spirit inside of me. I received this gift from above. 'Above where?' You may ask. Well you might think it was from an angel. Or from a loved one who has passed away. I believe it was from someone much greater.
I know where I've been and I know what I've seen. It is way beyond me. But I have to be honest. It has filled me with so much more than myself. It has made me feel special. It has inspired me for my future. It has made me want to share it with you.
Yes, you have been chosen. That makes you special too. So please, I beg you just read it from beginning to end. Because I believe someone, somewhere, thinks something of you. If you believe it, you will definitely receive it. 'Whatever is it?' you might ask. Let's call it a blessing. I believe someone wants to bless you from above.

 On Earth as it is in Heaven  by Julie Prentice £8.99 available on Amazon  or email julie.jules2007@hotmail.co.uk for stockists

For more information about our event see my previous blog, hope you can join us!

The Event

I was having what I like to call an ‘at home’ day today, you know one of those days where you need to catch up on everything? I don’t know about you but with the arrival of the snow yesterday I feel like I have gone into a bit of a melt down. Last night was no exception so I just sat on the couch and watched some TV. Flicking onto the ‘catch up’ channel I noticed they had made a documentary about the Concordia. What a tragedy! I had been on a Costa cruise a few years ago; I had even mentioned our trip in my book, (On Earth as it is in Heaven) however this is a different story, the talk is more about the captain tonight. I sighed, I remembered him from our holiday. That was in 2007, back then I reckon he never envisioned himself being the main topic of conversation on sky news! ‘The price of fame’ one could say seems worth discussion today.

I pondered; the price people will pay for fame is not always fortunate. Funnily enough I had discussed this with the young girls on the beauty and belief course. The lengths that some people will go to in their quest for fame can be quite mind boggling. They somehow seem to have this vision in their heads that starving themselves is the secret of true beauty. But the truth of it sadly, looks far from it. Having a head that looks twice the size of a body that resembles a bag of bones, I do not think is any more a vision of loveliness than someone who is grossly overweight, (or ‘obese’ I think is the correct medical term). Neither sounds good, starving yourself will not make you feel any better than stuffing yourself. As a young person a lot of the time I have to confess I did not bother to feed myself properly.  As my husband in one of his reminiscing moods will laugh and remind me, ‘when I first met you there was never any food in your cupboard.’ Nowadays I have the food in my cupboard which is a blessing, but the bother I have now is the love I have for eating it!

So today I have decided I need to dedicate myself to loosing a bit of weight. Tomorrow I will start a three day detox, it is one recommended by the British heart foundation so I know it is safe and as I have done it before I know it will help me to get into shape. So from tomorrow I will eat from a smaller plate, make sure I get 2.5 hours exercise a week and 8 hours a night of sleep. As a treat I will have one snack a day but no chocolate. I have to start putting this into practice.

Why now? You may well ask. Well I have had another vision, and for it to come into fruition I need to practice what I preach. Sorry if that sounds confusing, but if you can bear with me I will share.

Since running the beauty and belief course it has been laid on my heart to put on an event. This is something else that I used to do from time to time when I had my beauty business. To be honest it is not something I feel really confident about doing, it was a lot of years ago that I done the last one, but I keep having this vision of my daughter and her friends dressed up in their prom dresses. They look all smiley and sparkly. The thought will not go away. Don’t get me wrong I know exactly who planted it there. So I prayed about it. ‘Lord if I am to do this I will need people to help me. To make this event work I will need assistance. I will need a great skincare range. I will need someone with ideas about fashion and I will definitely need some help with the music. ’  

Saturday arrived; my son is helping out with an event at Proclaimers called ‘Aspire.’  Because we have our own business Hubby and I decided to go along, we felt it might give us some fresh ideas. To cut a long story short I ended up with the idea of sending my CV off to a couple of agencies. Surprisingly, I did not have to wait long until I received a response. The lady who telephoned me feels she may have a business opportunity that could be of interest to me. It transpires she is involved in the beauty business. She has what she described as an 'amazing' range of products that she would like to show me. I had never heard of them but after receiving an email from her I discovered the company has been established for over 30 years. As the products are natural and not available on the High street I saw this as a sign she may have what I am looking for.

On Sunday I had been hosting in the welcome lounge at NFLC. We had two new people; I ended up in conversation with a young lady. I could not help but gasp when she told me that she is a dress designer and has a shop in the city so we agreed to meet within the next week, she is happy to help.

Encouraged I decided to make enquiries. I need a venue and I need a date. A place popped into my head and thoughts of my birthday too, so I gave the hotel a ring.  The lady on the phone was most helpful; she thought it sounded a great idea. I knew it was to be the month of my birthday so that just left the date. The answer came in a flash, by that I mean I kept seeing a certain number flash up from my mobile phone then again on the clock in the car and even on my computer at home.

Over the week I decided to share the vision with those I met along the way. It proved most encouraging especially at a ladies meeting on Tuesday as many said they would love to attend.

However on Sunday, travelling to NFLC I sensed there was still something missing. ‘I have a feeling I really need someone who can sing, but not just that, I need someone who will really fit in,’ I Prayed silently. Later it transpired Hubby and I got called to help out with the welcome lounge again. There was only one new person this time, another young lady; she looks around the age of my son. We had a coffee together and got chatting as to why she had come here today. It transpired she had dropped a friend off and had been meaning to visit for some time but had not got round to it. It also transpired that she is a teacher and she also sings.

I was suddenly reminded of Matthew 19 : 26 With God all things are possible

Message has been received. 

The Event

The Brook Hotel Norwich

Friday 27^th April at 7.00 pm

2 course Dinner

£15.00

An evening of inspiration beauty and fashion

Be the best you can be

Beauty & Belief


In aid of our mission 
Also supporting 'Posh frocks'  part of Storehouse Charity shop.
 Norwich Food Bank  

N.B.  This is a ticket only event. Please contact me for tickets via face book Julie Prentice or email Julie.jules2007@hotmail.co.uk