one.

Just One Drop 

by Jonathan David Helser

Just one drop of your blood and my sins are gone

Just one thread of your robe and I'm made whole

Just one glimpse of your face is all I dream of

Just one moment of your favor is so much greater

You are the One who was

You are the One who is

You are the One who will always be

Just one word from your lips and the heaves were made

Just one touch of your hand and I am changed

Just one breath from your mouth and I come alive

Just one moment of your favor is so much greater

No matter what my circumstances try to say

I will trust in you, I will lift my voice

And I will say, "You are greatly to be praised!"

Just one drop and everything will change

Just look at the nations

And watch and be amazed

I'm gonna do something in your days

You wouldn't even believe if I told you

All it takes is one drop

One mustard seed

And mountains will move

Just one

Just one drop, just watch

Just one drop

That's all it takes

And everything will change

Just look at the nations

Rain is coming

I can feel the first drops falling

Open up you ancient wells

Open wide

unprecedented awakening.

ripples that steadily form into tidal waves.
washing over and flooding life into everything desperate. dry. withering.
  
a single spark exploding into a mass of radiance. 
pressing through a barely cracked open door.
swinging wide the barrier with an invasion of light.


darkness vanished.


illuminated love and hope in homes.
on the streets. entire cities. the world.
nations.


souls no longer sleepwalking.


eyes opened.
seeing again.
truly seeing. 
the way we were created to see.

ears unplugged.
hearing again.
truly hearing. 
the way we were created to hear.

minds renewed.
knowing again.
truly knowing.
the way we were created to know.

bodies healed.
living again.
truly living.
the way we were created to live.

emotions captivated.
feeling again.
truly feeling. 
the way we were created to feel.

hearts beating.
loving again.
truly loving.
the way we were created to love.

an army rising up.
walking in the confidence and power of our true identity. 

the way we were created to walk.

on earth as it is in heaven.

keep hoping, waseca.

There will always be something special about your hometown. 

Mine rests in southern Minnesota where highway 13 and highway 14 intersect. As you drive into the city, the signs welcome you and invite you to "Discover Waseca".

If you spend much time there and get to know the residents in this little town, I think you'd quickly discover that there is a unique sense of community. I totally felt it growing up but didn't realize the depth until I graduated college and I'd come back to visit. 

Just see what happens when students gather for a sporting event and the community rallies around them. Or when the Marching Jays play their show one last time long after the judges are gone and it's just the parents and others from the community who traveled hours to cheer them on with an outpouring of support. 

Or see what happens with tragic events hit hard. There is a coming together to encourage each other towards healing. 

But there have been too many of these instances over the years and even recent months. Another one just occurred in the last 24 hours. There is a sadness inside knowing that when life ends abruptly, it has deep impact on many people whom I love so dearly. I mourn alongside you, family and friends.

In the midst of this mourning, I am compelled to speak of Hope.  

City and community of Waseca, you are a unique and special people with a purpose and destiny. Declare with me for the release of Life and Hope that comes from the heart of Jesus to fill the streets of this city and saturate the lives of all who reside there! We speak Life over Waseca! 

This song, by Kristine Mueller, was written as a song of Hope for San Francisco. It's a genuine and mighty cry out for a city to keep holding on to the promise that God will bring freedom, healing, and restoration to a wounded community.

"So keep hoping, [Waseca]...You'll see the sun shine again over your city streets..."

cartwheels.

Cartwheels = Joy.

I'll explain.

Some of you, if you're like me, can't really do a cartwheel. I can hardly do a summersault without getting dizzy. 

I'm not kidding.

Whatever happened to the days I could flip upside down, spin around in circles, and roll down hills without losing my cookies?

Things change, I guess.  

I didn't associate cartwheels with joy until last week. It was part of the crazy adventure last Friday. You can read more about that here if you haven't already. Looking for a reason to believe that God speaks and truly wants to love us? Then check it out. It's a long story, but totally worth the read. 

After passing a very bad accident on the way to the cities, we were overcome with sadness and grief. It's hard to describe what shifted in the air. But something definitely shifted.

A few miles more down the road, we passed a baseball field full of children. They were playing and throwing around a huge ball to one another. A girl wearing red out in left field caught my eye. Out of nowhere, she did a cartwheel. It brought a smile to my face in the midst of a heaviness that we were feeling after the accident scene. Something shifted again in the air, this time in the direction of Hope.

I really don't think this girl was disinterested in the throw-a-super-giant-ball-at-each-other-game. Who wouldn't enjoy that?!

Although I don't really know everything she was thinking in the moment she gracefully rolled herself over, I do like to think she just had something inside her that compelled her to release some goodness and joy out there on that green playing field on a sun filled, fall afternoon.

I like to think she just couldn't help it.

When you've got the joy and you are full of it to the point of overflowing, it's hard not to do a cartwheel. Or laugh uncontrollably. Or speak words of Life and Hope. Or serve humbly. Or forgive. Or honor one another. 

You might be asking, "But, what about the times when trial and pain are all around me? What about the times I pass by a horrendous accident on the road of life? It's hard to do a cartwheel then."

Then hold onto Joy and lean into God's Truth in the midst of challenge with such intensity that you leave an imprint in Him. He's the source of joy. When you press into Him, it'll absorb right into you.

Then release it to the world around you...

Do a cartwheel.

amber: precious jewel.

"You will release Life today."

  

These words, a promise from God, written in black ink rested between the blue lines on a simple piece of college lined notebook paper. They were scribed onto that paper during a drive down to the cities Friday afternoon.

  

The trip started like any other roadtrip. Classmates of the Bemidji Area School of Transformation, but more so friends on an incredible journey of learning together, piled into two vehicles. We were anticipating the day ahead while dancing to the music in the car, chatting away and getting to know each other.

  

We were on our way to listen to Randall Worley at a church in Burnsville. We left early so we could go to the Mall of America beforehand to see how God was at work there.

  

And of course He was at work there. He's at work everywhere.
  
On our last stretch of the trip, we all took time together to focus on God, His heart, and His desires for the day and sought after what the Father was doing so that we could partner with that.
  
As this occurred, a police car sped past us. Right after, I closed my eyes and put in earphones. We didn't know yet, but up ahead was a scene that would cause a seriousness and grief to settle over us all.
  
Because my eyes were shut and I had headphones in my ears up until we drove directly by, I didn't have much time to take in everything that was going on. But there was enough time for some vivid images to flood my mind. There was a car totally mangled and flipped over while a small group of people were huddled around a body laying on the ground in the ditch. They were covering the person up with a blanket.
  
We immediately started praying and interceding. We prayed about whether or not we should stop. We heard "no." So we kept driving. Two of us (without knowing until a little later) saw angels of comfort completely immersed in the situation.
  
Passing the scene of that accident shifted something in the air around us. Soon after, Becky called us from the other car to process what just happened.
  
Steph heard something very specific as she prayed and as it was shared, much stirred in our spirit. She heard God say that he wanted to intervene in a life or death situation while we were at the Mall of America. It was a wake up call for us that we needed to be alert to what God was doing that day. 
  
I'm not sure any of us really knew what this life and death situation was going to look like, but something inside knew that God was speaking clearly and intently to us. There was a confidence that when we saw it, we'd know.
  
I need to explain something more before I move on. When we pulled out of the driveway in Bemidji, I noticed Steph's license plate was SRB116. 
  
You know how when you see your name or your initials, it snags your attention? I guess when we see our name or identity, it does something inside. As it should.
  
Well, SRB are my initials. When I saw that I immediately thought Psalm 116 because it reminded me of my amazing Uncle Donnie and Aunt Susie. In 1998, my cousin, Nick (their son), was killed in a motorcycle accident. After he died, my aunt shared a story about how the license plate of his truck encouraged her. (I don't recall the specifics of how right now.) I also recalled how after Nick died she woke up in the middle of the night and was lead to read Psalm 116.
  
Even though that psalm came to mind right away when seeing SRB116, I didn't read it until after we passed the accident.
  
You can read the psalm here.

I was blown away by the theme of death and life in this passage. It was completely fitting with what we were praying about and overall sensed as we continued towards the cities.
  
I was going to share it with my friends in the car, but decided to wait until the song that we were listening to at the time, You Won't Relent, was over. Meanwhile, I decided to copy down the passage on another piece of paper.
  
As I'm writing the first line, "I love the Lord, for..." Justin asks from up front, "Hey Suzanne, you have your Bible?"
  
"Yyyyyep."
  
"Can you turn to Psalm 116?"
  
*insert slight jaw drop moment*
  
"Uhhhh, yeah, so I'm opened up to that right now and I just starting copying it down."
  
Wow.
  
We read it outloud and God used it big time as we got closer to the mall. It affirmed that we were to keep our peace and joy as we partnered with the Holy Spirit that day.
  
Alright, jump ahead to us at the mall. We broke up into a few groups and started walking around. Some of us had some specific leadings as to where to go. 
  
(And FYI - there are more great testimonies of that day that we are praising and thanking God for! He truly worked through everyone that day. I love partnering with you guys! God is awesome.) 
  
Once we got to the mall each of us moved forward with the ways God had spoken to us on the way down. For me, there was one particular place in the mall I kept envisioning. I was incredibly compelled to linger around a specific restaurant. 
  
I eventually reached that area with Heather and Mark. Right when we arrived there, Heather leaned over to me and declared, "There is major peace here."
  
So true.
  
The impression we had was to just hang out there and God would reveal the next steps.
  
A few minutes later, I found myself standing next to one of the girls that worked there. She was tidying things up. It's hard to explain, but words were coming out of my mouth before I even had time to think about what I was saying.
  
"This seems like a really fun place to work. Do you enjoy it here?" I asked.
  
This simple question opened the door to a phenomenal, divine conversation.
  
A few minutes into our conversation, she asked me what I was doing at the mall. I shared that I was a part of a ministry school in Bemidji and we were going to a speaker at a church in Burnsville that night.
  
I felt silenced about saying anything about being at the mall to see how God was at work. It's like God put a little cork in my mouth in that moment. So I stood there, not sure what to say.
  
In my silence, the next thing she said was, "I haven't been to church in like three years..."
  
She then opened up a bit about her life and background. What emerged next was a genuine desire and hunger for something of God. She said that she would like to go to church again, but didn't know where to go.
  
Okay, God...what do you want me to do with this? She's desiring this, but I live no where near the cities and I highly doubt she'll roadtrip to Bemdiji each Sunday morning. ;)
  
What did I hear? 
  
"Connect her."
  
I asked her, if she was comfortable, if she'd like to give me her name and contact info and I'd connect her with some of my friends in the cities who go to church. I know they'd welcome her and love to go with her and help her check things out.
  
She agreed and we exchanged names and numbers.
  
As I handed her a little slip of paper with my info, she started to cry.
  
Quietly and almost to herself, she said, "I can't believe I'm having this conversation right now."
  
What she shared next still causes me to come before God with great awe...possibly even more so then the first time around. It blows me away every time I think about it.
  
With tears in her eyes, she shared, "Two days ago, I tried to kill myself. And today...I almost didn't come to work. I was going to call in..."
  
But there she stood.
  
And there I stood.
  
And there God was in our midst, radically pursuing His precious daughter.

She said she was looking for a sign that someone truly cared about her. 
  
That's exactly what God did that day. He won't relent, "for there is love that is as strong as death, jealously demanding as the grave...
  
...and many waters cannot quench this love."
  
She was in awe. I was in awe. We were both trying to absorb everything as we both had tears in our eyes.
  
Things from earlier in the day were starting to make much more sense as she also told me that she had been looking for a sign that she was truly loved by someone.
  
God was bringing life, intervening in a life and death situation.
  
Wow, wow, wow.  
  
Declare my love to her and read Psalm 116...
  
And share about why you're at the mall.
  
God removed that cork from my mouth as that became the right time to share. I released God's Words of Life. I told her the story about the trip down. The accident. How we were lead to Psalm 116. That we were at the mall because God was at work there and wanted to have encounters with people. And that, among many other ways God was at work that day, he wanted to bring Life into a life or death situation.
  
After I declared the psalm over her we talked some more.
  
Eventually, I laid hands on her and prayed.
  
Friends, there is power in the name of Jesus. Call upon His name! He is mighty to save.
  
After making sure she was going to be okay when she got off work our conversation came to a close she said, "Maybe you can call or text me later with another thing to read in the Bible?"
  
"Absolutely, Amber. Do you have a Bible at home?"
  
"I don't," she replied.
  
Well, she does now. 
  
It has duct tape wrapped around it to hold it together. There are tear stains on some of the pages that fell from my face during secret place time with my Daddy. And there's a yellow star sticky note with my name on it in the front cover. I kept it in there and told her, "When you think of it, you can pray for me, too, k?"
  
I had slipped in my Bible those college lined pieces of paper from the car ride down with prayers and promptings for the day. As I pulled them out, Ephesians caught my eye. Just the day before, as part of an assignment for school, I had hi-lighted everything in blue in chapters 1 and 2 that declared our identity in Christ. This pointed her to the next part of Scripture to read.
  
We hugged goodbye, told her I loved her and that God loved her like crazy and we parted ways.
  
I walked out into the busy mall, speechless. Yet my spirit was sending out major and intense thanksgiving to God.
  
Later that night I received a text from Amber.
  
"Thank u god blessed me with u today it kinda changed my life. I can't believe how he works and puts people together. thank u for the bible I read the highlighted parts and I couldn't help but cry. I hope u really can find someone I can meet to go to church. I feel so new...I went from wanting to die and give up on my life and kids and something brought u into the store. :)"
  
That "something" is the Holy Spirit. And friends, this "something" is seeking to lead you into the very places that God wants to breathe Life and shine Light. Church, come awake and let's move forward into our calling and identity! Testimonies like this are becoming our new normal.
  
Let's walk in this new normal! We have been given and already possess all that we need to see heaven invade earth!
  
...
  
Since Friday, Amber and I have been in communication and have helped to link her up with some awesome friends in the cities. The Holy Spirit will carry things forth into more and more Life.
  
Something else hit me the other day. I felt like there was something to this during our conversation. The whole time we talked, we were standing by these coffeemugs with names on them. The entire time we talked, she was "tidying" up this area so that we could keep talking and she could appear to keep "working." :) It was cute.
  
I believe there is something about identity here. After I got home, I looked up what Amber means and what the color, amber, means.
  
Amber: precious jewel.
The color amber: the Father's heavenly care, glory of God
  
Amber, your life is purposeful! Your life will shine the glory of God to many. You have greatly impacted my life already. I thank God for you and your life! You are a beautiful, loved, and cherished Daughter of the Father. You are His precious jewel.
  
Thanks be to our Glorious Father!
  
*Amber gave me permission to share this story.*