"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:11
I wish all of you a belated Merry Christmas and trust 2022 will be your most blessed, healthiest, and happiest year ever!
Oh, how I praise God that our dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ was born on that first Christmas morning! My heart is so full of gratitude for God's many blessings to my family and me. Truly, I could never praise Him enough for the many prayers He has answered on our behalf - and not just prayers. So often, of late, He has given us the desires of our hearts for things that we didn't even pray for. He hears the cries of our hearts, even when those heart cries never make it into the form of words or prayers. He knows us intimately and sees the yearnings inside for things we don't feel like we should bother Him with.
In October 2015, I sat in a rocking chair on our front porch, crocheting, as I watched a beautiful sunset over the field across the road. Many burdens were weighing on me, and as I prayed, I said, "Lord, I want You to do something so big that we all three have to look at one another and say, 'Look what God just did!'" I had and still do have such a longing for Him to be glorified and exalted as He so deserves to be. Over six years and many life-altering changes later, that memory is still vivid in my mind, and looking back, I can recall a multitude of moments that my family and I have indeed, in awed amazement, said those very words to one another. "Look what God just did!"
In October 2021, I sat at our kitchen table praying. I was thinking about Christmas and Zach's upcoming birthday and mentally calculating finances and resources. All of a sudden, I felt the Lord nudge me to write down a list of not only needs but also things I was wishing for. I got a pen and paper and didn't hold back on anything. I jotted down every single thing we needed, added some things I was longing for, and when I finished, I came up with an approximate sum of money all of those items added up to and wrote that figure at the top of the page. As I started to put the pen and paper aside, I felt the Lord nudge me again - this time, to scratch out the figure I had written down and up the amount by $500! I thought, "That is too much to ask for!" But in my heart, I felt 100% certain that God led me to do it, He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or even think (Ephesians 3:20), and that He had taken note of that list.
Fast forward to a few weeks later when Kevin and I were sitting side by side in our living room talking about some things we still hadn't been able to afford to buy for Zach. As we talked, in a matter-of-fact tone I casually said, "Well, I am praying for $_______(the amount of money I had written down)." Time went by, and the subject came up again, and I repeated that I was praying for that certain amount of money. This time, Kevin looked at me and said, "What made you ask for that particular amount of money?" I told him about the list I had come up with back in October, and he responded, "Well, you are not going to believe this. I was going to surprise you, but since you told me you are praying for that amount, I'm going to tell you. (His workplace) has an abundance of government funds (in a certain category), and they are thinking of giving each employee a bonus in the amount of $_______(the exact amount I was praying for!) And, they are talking about giving it to us before Christmas!"
Let me just tell you that my jaw dropped so far, it's a wonder it didn't hit the floor. I jerked up in my chair to turn and look at him, sheer amazement all over my face as I could hardly take in what he was telling me! I immediately, and I do mean immediately, dropped to my knees right then and there and began to just cry and thank the Lord for answering my prayer. Kevin cautioned me that it was not definitely approved yet, and how certain people still had to meet and vote on it, but I was absolutely undeterred. I kept believing, and lo, and behold, several days later everything was approved and the funds were soon deposited into our account! Talk about a "Look what God just did!" moment!
But, it didn't stop there - not by a longshot. Number four on that list, immediately after Zach's Christmas and birthday and two separate car repair needs, was something that I wouldn't classify as an actual need, but one of those deep"heart cries." Written on the fourth line on my list was the word "Guitar." For years, I have used an old black Guild that Kevin and another person bought at a pawn shop before Kevin and I even met. It has been dropped and beat up pretty bad over the years, and it has never really fit me just right. It is too big for my small hands and heavy and bulky, and it has never been able to accommodate a capo properly. That wasn't as much an issue until our new band, "Mountain Hope" came to be. I want to do my best, now more than ever, and oh, I just really longed for a new guitar! A few lines below "guitar" on my list was "Guitar Case," as I have not had one for quite a while. I figured if God gave us the amount of money He had impressed me to ask for, there should be enough left for me to buy a used guitar and case at a pawn shop, and I would have been content with that. But God! He had other and much bigger and far better plans - plans that would produce a monumental "Look what God just did!" moment.
A few days before Christmas, my dear friend and singing partner, Chuck, emailed and said he had something he wanted to bring to me for Christmas. We made plans for him to bring it the following day, and what happened next has left me completely overwhelmed. He walked in our door with a brand-new, high-end guitar case, and after he laid it on our kitchen counter, he opened it to reveal a gift he made for me with his own hands - a custom-made, original, brand-new, beautiful guitar with my initials in the neck and the perfect size for me! I could hardly believe my eyes. I am so overcome with gratitude. "Look what God just did indeed!" Instead of us buying an old, used, scrappy guitar and second-hand case from a pawn shop with the funds from Kevin's bonus, God put it on Chuck's heart to make me a brand-new, top-notch, perfect-for-me guitar - without him knowing anything about that early morning prayer in October.
It humbles me to think of the many hours Chuck poured into making this guitar for me, the money he spent buying such a beautiful, high-quality case, and he even bought me an amplifier to bring to our gigs! My voice is soft, and if we end up in a place without an adequate sound system, I really struggle. Now, I won't have that problem anymore.
This guitar is absolutely beautiful and will be something I cherish for the rest of my life. I can hardly believe it is mine, let alone comprehend it was custom-made especially for me, and I will never forget the magnitude of Chuck's kindness.
Here are a couple of videos of Chuck and me singing together, along with our band, in a recent living room practice session (pre-new guitar - I can't wait to share new content playing my brand-new one!)
I hope you enjoy our videos and since the camera is angled in a position where you can't see Chuck very well, I am including a photo below.
I am beyond blessed to be able to sing with Chuck and do music with these guys. They are all amazing and so incredibly gifted. Playing with them is a lifelong dream come true for me. I am so looking forward to seeing what new opportunities God opens for Mountain Hope and asking Him for many "Look what God just did!" moments for our band. (You can read more about us and find a video of one of my favorite songs here.)
And, if you would like to see more Mountain Hope videos and keep up with us, please visit and subscribe to our YouTube Channel! Zach manages it and does all our tech work for us and uploads new videos as he has time. He is such a blessing to all of us! Kevin sings with me (off-camera and off-stage) and helps us out with a lot of input from his lifelong love and extensive knowledge of the country, bluegrass, & mountain music we love and are trying to preserve. He and Zach are so faithful to come along with us to gigs, and they are two of our biggest fans. Their support and encouragement along this journey are invaluable to me.
2021 held so many "Look what God just did!" moments for us, and I could not be more grateful.
Thanks for reading, Happy New Year, and may God bless you all!
