January Blog Post

Bible Study Blessing for our Women

Thank you to Helen Bruso and her kind friend for bringing the girls a gift card just to help them know how loved and remembered they are.

Kayaking

So Saturday got to take some of the girls kayaking and some of them for the very first time ever it was literally on one of our girls bucket list and wow what a day we had. What a ride it was. We had an amazing time out on Wekiwa we got to see an alligator very close up, deer, turtles, all kinds of beautiful birds and wildlife! It was such a beautiful time with these women! we could definitely feel God‘s presence power and peace out there and his beautiful majestic creation in the middle of nature at its finest!

Now, what a fight it was to get there. you would not even believe how our day started. I literally cannot make this stuff up guys. We are on our way Leighand I driving the trailer with kayaks and we have a blowout. Flat tire. We get out of the truck and like wow what are we gonna do I start praying she starts trying to figure out who she can call I walked to the side of the road and wave down the first truck I see and they literally stopped. Our angels on earth. Three amazing guys Steven, Cameron and Joey. It took them two trips back to their toolshed to try to find tools to get our spare tire off but after about an hour and a lot of prayers they fixed us up and put our spare tire on. We got to pray with them and I’m telling you it was beautiful and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts for stopping to help us! They were heaven sent. So we are driving away so grateful and so filled up with the presence and power of God as we drive away so excited to meet the girls at Wilson’s Landing who are waiting for us. Not even 30 seconds later another blowout and we pull over. Same tire the spare tire blew out. And I’m like oh my gosh this is crazy and again I’m just praying God help us and literally I look to the road a guy pulls over and offers to help us. His boss in the truck behind him pulls over and literally says I know where a tractor trailer shop is will be right back will go and get you another tire don’t even worry and they have all the special machinery on their truck to help us!

Me and Clay get to talking and I offered to pray for him and as I lay my hands on him he just starts sobbing and I got the honor of praying with him and for him just such a beautiful soul who needed encouragement from the Lord. So as this good Samaritan pulled over to help us God was able to encourage him! Our Lord is such a divine connector isn’t he. A little while later his boss pulls up with not one tire and brand new wheel but 2. He did not trust the other tire to not blow out, and guess what he would not allow me to give him one dollar. He refused to take any money. I found out later in the conversation those tires and wheels were $80 each. This man bought us these two tires and wheels and spent over $160 to help us! Now that’s our ABBA father, JEHOVAH SABBOATH(lord of angel armies).wow did he show up and show off in a mighty way. He loves us all so much! Nothing is too big for him, he sees everything and he is always working and interceding on all of our behalf! after a very anointed conversation with these men we were off and on our way three minutes away from our kayaking destination and where our girls awaited. We still had a good 2 1/2 hours left to be on the river thank God made it a perfect amount of time for us! it made the day even that much better and sweeter seeing all the Lord God did for us. We get there and it starts raining but you know what we just believed it was going to stop and we were gonna have a beautiful time and he pushed back the rain and we did! We pushed through all the obstacles Pressed in and trusted God leaning not on our own understanding in all our ways we acknowledged him and prayed to him and asked him for help and he directed our path perfectly! he is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine according to his beautiful Holy Spirit power at work within us!

His Missions Gala

Had a wonderful time at HIS MISSIONS GALA and silent auction last night! Myself, Leigh , Rhonda and Helen(all on the Board of Directors of ARMOR UPS RECOVERY HOMES Nonprofit. Food fun and laughter. Helen and I’s kids got to be servers! It was so fun. So honored to partner with HIS MISSIONS founded by Nate and Mandy Kimbleton. I love everything that HIS MISSIONS does and their hearts for gods people and children. I got to go to Uganda on a missions team with them. It was incredible. I will be going again this year. Helen got to go to Dominican republic and Rhonda, Helen and I all got to be a part of his missions disaster relief team and go to Fort Myers right after hurricane IAN! We will be forever changed by each and every missions trip. It is life-changing. So every year at HIS MISSIONS GALA they raffle off a fully funded missions trip of choice for 2023. as we excitedly awaited this evening for the lucky winner it finally came to that moment and guess who won? Our beautiful Leigh minter! A fully funded missions trip and she is choosing to go to Israel! That was definitely God favor and blessings over her and it is her time to go and see all that God has in store for her and his people in Israel! We are so excited for you Leigh and so grateful that you were the one blessed by this trip! You deserve it! We love you so very much and you are such a big part of the women’s lives at ARMOR UP and you do so much for us. We treasure you and this is GODS blessing and favor over you we just couldn’t be happier for you! I know that all of us will be going back to Uganda and Columbia and Israel and everywhere that God sends us to be a light to his people and to serve his people! For that is our true purpose on this earth and nothing else!

God calls us to go to the four corners of the earth to the ends of the earth and go and make disciples of all nations and all people! To spread Jesus’s love and to be his hands and feet! One thing I know about the women that God has to Called to ARMOR UP and all that he is doing, these women that is their life‘s purpose to go and make disciples and to spread God‘s word and his love to the broken and hurting! Love u all so much!

Thank you HIS MISSIONS for being such a light to GODS people and thank you for all you do! We pray MIGHTY blessings AND favor over you!

Thanksgiving Dinner Eve

Thanksgiving at victory house! Some of the girls are with their families In different states God is such a good God of restoration and healing! One of our girls has Covid so we pray blessings over her and she’s quarantined herself in her room gosh darn it. The rest of us had a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner last night so grateful for all God is doing in each and everyone of these women at victory house and Freedom House. Thank you Lord for the gift of their lives and getting to share this Thanksgiving dinner with them and make a good new memory together!

Celebrate Recovery

October 4th I received my medallion for 11 years clean. Wow, what a miracle, God is so very good. December 2nd I also got to go to Sanford’s City Church and share my testimony from death to life.

Washing Each Other’s Feet

One of the most beautiful most impactful loving humble things that I have ever had the honor of doing was last night as I had the honor of washing the feet of the women at Victory and Freedom House and some of the other women that come to our Bible study. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. And then after I washed Leigh’s feet, she was also as your humble servant able to wash the feet of our beautiful women. And then the most beautiful thing ever happened Rhonda Rebecca and Toni wanted to wash my feet wow. Unbelievably precious loving humble and sweet it was! The Holy Spirit was all over us this night! Thank you Lord thank you so much for this message that you downloaded into me to share with the world! May we go and serve you Lord and all your people in humbleness and obedience and love!

Tawnie’s Graduation of Drug Court

We are so proud of you Tawnie, what a journey it has been! You are now a free woman, go make your dreams come true. Free from the chains of addiction, and the law.

CHRISTmas Party

Had such an amazing time with all of you ladies at ARMOR UPS annual CHRISTmas party. I have not laughed so hard in a very long time. Merry CHRISTmas to all of you it was a beautiful afternoon and evening with these women I just love so much. We got to have our white elephant gift exchange, have an ornament decorating contest, best dressed contest, and lots of raffles and giveaways. I know this was a night to store in the memory bank, showing women they can have a great time without the use of drug and alcohol.

CHRISTmas Eve Church Service

christmas eve

CHRISTmas for the Girls

Merry CHRISTmas ! What a beautiful CHRISTmas we had last night at VICTORY and FREEDOM Houses. Thank you Lord for each and everyone of your beautiful daughters that you have called for such a time as this!!!! I’m believing great freedom and victory for these women that you have allowed me to shepherd on their recovery journey! Man it’s so hard sometimes but worth every minute when you see the fruit! And even when you don’t sometimes I know my Lord that we are just seed planters and that YOU will bring the harvest!

I want to thank Our donors who helped me to give these women a beautiful blessed CHRISTmas. Together we made it a very very special personalized special CHRISTmas for each and every woman! Thank you and God bless each and everyone of you as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and the life he came to live and then die on a cross just for us!

Toys in the Streets Outreach

Our annual toys in the streets outreach! What a day we had in the streets of Orlando on one of the coldest days and nights we’ve had in many years. As we are safe and sound and warm snuggled up in our heat filled homes with plenty of food in the refrigerator gas in the car, probably at least a few dollars in the bank, and most importantly with our loved ones around or close by safe and healthy, there are hundreds and thousands of people freezing outside on these treacherously cold nights without adequate blankets and coats to even keep warm or a pillow for their heads. Some of the more fortunate homeless that we saw had tents lined up and down the streets because there was no more beds at the coalition. We met a lady whose house burned down she was in the streets with her two kids thank God she had a bed at the coalition. We met a 46 year old lady who was raised on the streets and never had a home, this is normal for her. All she wanted was this big beautiful white teddy bear we had to keep her company and to snuggle with that night in under 30° weather. She never even knew what having a home or parents was like. Her parents both addicts left her when she was a child on the streets. As we literally emptied our truck of hundreds and hundreds of toys and blankets and Bibles and toiletries. For the first time ever we didn’t have enough. Why didn’t we bring more gloves, we should’ve brought more blankets and coats, these thoughts plagued my mind and still do, as I wake up in my snuggly warm bed. It breaks my heart beyond words. I woke up this morning tormented with thoughts of if they were able to sleep last night , if they were able to keep warm if they were able to get a warm meal or any food at all in their bodies this morning or at any point today dear God I pray! One young girl and her mom came and almost everything we had was gone and she just filled her plastic bag with every last thing we could give her in our truck and it wasn’t much it wasn’t enough. It could never be enough. She was so happy her smiles were worth $1 million her hugs even more. I don’t know why you and I are so blessed and have so much I don’t know why but I will spend the rest of my life being so grateful for my family for my friends for this ministry for the honor and opportunity to get to go and be a light if only just for just a little while to those broken hurting lost souls! I Myself and Armor Up Ministry And the beautiful women who are a part of it Helen, Leigh, and Rhonda. I know these women with hearts for the broken lost desperate and hopeless and myself we will spend the rest of our lives trying to spread the gospel and the love of Jesus to everyone we can. Dear God help us to reach more, dear God send people with like hearts to come so we can do more to help you’re broken hurting people Lord to spread your love to our brothers and sisters in Christ…. That could have been us in the streets. By the grace of God it isn’t. I don’t know why, Dear God I want them in heaven with us for all eternity. Use us Lord to be the salt and the light of the earth. Just let us be your mouthpiece Lord let us be your heart in ALL that we do and all that we say and everywhere we go. Help us to love you’re hurting people well! Not just on CHISTmas Eve Lord, every day every minute of the year! I love you Lord and I will spend the rest of my life as your servant as your ambassador to love your people with all that I have and all that I am. Thank you for that gift Lord ! thank you for saving me. Thank you for using me. Thank you dear God ! I want to thank u Kevin for coming each year and driving and for loving these people with me and with us. Thank you to all of our supporters and donors who donated especially Christian Help! We definitely could not do this without you! God bless you all! Merry CHRISTmas! And I pray in this new year to come we will all go and be the hands and feet of Jesus every minute of every day. God bless you!

New Years Eve Party

We brought in the New Year right at Victory House! Had a blast playing games, eating, and laughing until our bellies hurt! We let off a ton of fireworks, and it was a great night. Love you ladies and my beautiful daughter Skyanne Christiana! God bless us all in this new year of life that he’s given us. May we make the most of every moment and treat everybody we meet like it was our last day on earth or maybe theirs. Let’s live like Jesus is going to come knocking on our door at 5 o’clock each day. If we could live with that continual hope every moment of every day I think it would definitely bring us great joy even through the hard and difficult moments and days! May we keep our eyes on the prize because we know how the story ends. Let’s just make it our goal to take so many people with us into GLORY when our time has come. May we live every moment as if it were our last. May the whole goal of our life just be to hear our father say, “well done good and faithful servant”!

Sharon’s Birthday and Graduation Party

We are so very proud of you Sharon! Believing in great things for you. You completed the 12 steps of recovery, got so much inner healing, and God has an amazing plan for your life. Love you always.