I pray this update finds you well! Over the past few weeks, I’ve been recovering leaps and bounds. When I have a rough day, I remember to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, because he is my ultimate healer. I cannot express enough how thankful I am for all your prayers and notes of encouragement. Since I last wrote, I began eating an anti-inflammatory diet and juicing multiple times a day. You can only imagine how easy it is to do this when on the road, haha. Besides all our luggage, equipment and children, it has been a nice addition having to lug a heavy commercial juicer in and out of hotel rooms, Lol. Thank the Lord Jesus for providing me with a big, strong and amazingly handsome husband to do it for me! ; ) …willing too, might I add!
What a crazy few months this has been. It certainly wasn’t what I expected back when we stepped into this new year. I couldn’t have imagined the level of trial, testing, waiting, hoping, trusting, praying, and desperately relying on God, that I would have to endure through this short amount of time. Yet, the Lord was faithful to equip me with all that I needed to walk through this valley. I remember back in late January, during the height of my challenges, it felt like my body was literally spiraling out of control. I asked the Lord, “Is this a spiritual attack, that is affecting me physically. Or is this a physical attack that is affecting me spiritually?” I felt like I needed to know, so that I could pray accordingly and find healing. One of the hardest parts to deal with, was the unknown. In my mind, if I could understand the cause, then I could better find the solution. That’s just how my brain works.
A few days later, while waiting on the Lord for an answer, I went out my back patio door and into the backyard. As I swung the door open, I walked right into a tree branch that was hanging in front of me. All of the sudden, I realized that I was head on and eye level with a snake. You can’t even imagine the shock that both of us had, as we looked at each other, way too close for comfort. I jumped back with a loud shriek, and he began to move away from me as fast as he could. The boys came running over to see it, and I snapped a quick photo. I felt like it had something to do with the answer I was looking for from the Lord. However, a snake in my face was not what I was hoping for, nor did it bring clarity to my question. So I tucked it away in my mind, and waited on God.
About a week later, I decided to call on corporate prayer from the body of Christ, and wrote my first newsletter letting you all know what I was going through. Your responses, love, and prayers that came in, helped breath comfort and life back into me. It was incredible. There was one reply however, that nearly took my breath away. It was short and a little strange, saying, “Kathleen, look at The Bronze Serpent and be healed, in Jesus name!” Um, what??! Look at the serpent?? Be healed? Then I noticed that the message had a picture attachment. It was a picture of a snake lifted up on a stick. The weirdest part was that it looked identical to the one that I had just taken in my back yard! It was the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness. “And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.” (Numbers 21:8-9) The Lord spoke to my spirit right then and said, “Keep your eyes on me Kathleen, You shall live!” Then, I remembered the words of Jesus in John 3:14-15, saying “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” All of the sudden, I realized the answer to my question! If it was a physical problem, a spiritual attack, or both, it didn’t really matter! The answers were both the same. Look to Jesus and live! Look to Jesus and live!
Since then, every time I have been discouraged, had a setback, or a really hard day, I remember that snake on the stick who was lifted up in front of me, reminding me to keep my eyes on Jesus and I will live! Originally, I was not going to share my odd experience, but the Lord wouldn’t stop pressing it on me to share. So, I know this is for all of us. When the children of Israel found themselves bitten by the snakes, their first response was to ask God to remove them. In the same way, when these fiery trials, situations or snakes come our way, we tend to ask God to fix it or take it away. Instead of remove it, God often decides to use it! Instead of look down, may we look up, and be healed! No matter what we face, the challenge, the stronghold, the sin, the disease, the pain, the problem, the answer is, “Look to Jesus and live!”
There are a few days left to help with the RV fund! If our ministry has ever been been a blessing to you in your life, this is one of the ways that you can help us go further and reach even more people with the gospel of the Kingdom of God! You can read the whole description and donate at this link —> https://www.givesendgo.com/CarnaliFamily OR we can send you our forwarding address, just reply to this email with the request.
I love you so very much. Remember, LIFE is our portion! We hope to see you very soon!
All our love in Christ forever,
~Kathleen &
The Carnali Crew
