Get Ready! What a first day. I grabbed my coffee and outside I ventured. I have a lovely patio in my front yard that Zoey, my dog, and I have a daily ritual of sitting, reading and listening. There are a few birds I’ve started to recognize. They always arrive in pairs, doves, swallowtails, small black birds and one solo hummingbird which investigates my flowers. It’s their routine.

Today when I began my Forty Day Challenge, I had no idea how God would show up. But did He ever! The premise of today’s reading was “get ready.” As I read the story of a Christian Camp Counselor turned Political Leader, I was taken back by the sheer fact of his namesake, Lankford. My Dad’s last name is Lankford and he also was born in Oklahoma. No, that’s not a coincidence Lord. The story continues as God kept placing on his heart to “get ready”. Get ready for what? And then the Lord followed it by announcing “this is it”. What? You want me to run for office? Before long, James Lankford ran for Congressman and eventually, State Senator of Oklahoma. To this day, he meets with his constituents, and other leaders and is frequently found in the hallways, leading prayer.

So what does this have to do with me? Well the more I poured into Day One, I kept hearing the word “NEIGHBORS”. What Lord do you want me to do with the neighbors? Surely not lead a Bible Study? Well, maybe you can start with a BBQ. When I finished reading, I check my calendar on my phone and start typing BBQ and before I could write anything else, it self-populates “for neighbors”. And that’s how God takes over. You are something more than spirit-like. Yes, He surely is. To be exact, he is the Holy Spirit and He knows how to use I-phones!

“If you pray to God regularly, irregular things will happen on a regular basic.” Mark Batterson