"But in the region of Goshen..."

Hilarious pic, right? I love every inch of it, right down to the fact that Natalie walked into the kitchen to see me this way, and that the knives are pointed the same way. She experimented a lot with her glasses in those first few weeks. I was just thankful that she thought they were fun.

Sitting in the doctor's office, I was crushed when he told me that Natalie needed glasses to correct her vision. You know you're shooting me through the heart, right? I was 11 when I first got glasses. It wasn't the end of my world. I made the best out of it that I could. But I love contacts. And I remember how much prettier I felt when I could keep my glasses in their case each day.

Also around this time, we noticed that Natalie would break out with rashy bumps after she had eaten peanut butter. She tested negative for an allergy, even though two weeks earlier she had broken out when a nursery worker forgot and gave her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Earlier in the year, I had been reading the story of the plauges in Exodus 7-11. "But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people."

I felt like this was a word for the Church today. That there are things that happen in the world that are quite common place and ordinary that do not have to be accepted by the Church. We are His people, we are to bring His Kingdom to the earth, and He will make a distinction between those who rely on Him and those who don't. I'm not saying that bad things will never happen, that we won't suffer hurt or loss or trial. But that there is a higher "quality of life" if you will, that God wants to bless His people with. He wants us to get bonuses when none are being handed out. To be prosperous when the economy looks grim. To be able to land a job when jobs are scarce. To have the ability to bless others when the temptation is to hoard. To not put up with sickness when the world says your only hope is to temporarily mask the symptoms with medication.

And so, in February when our church service joined with another church's in our area, I got Natalie from the nursery and took her up to that altar call for healing. God hand-picked the woman who prayed for her. "Oh, this is right up my alley," she said. "I used to be allergic to everything. Peanuts, soy, all the grasses of North America... (I sorta laughed here) ... No, I'm serious!" One day she just decided that she was going to believe God for healing. She and her husband prayed every night for two weeks, and after that she was COMPLETELY healed of ALL her allergies. Amazing.

"Pharaoh sent men to investigate and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died."

And so we believe for Natalie. Are peanut-induced rashes and far-sighted eyes the worst things to live with in this world? Of course not. But... if God says He is a God of healing, then why wouldn't I believe Him for healing? We pray over her. We speak that she is walking in ever-increasing health. We haven't loaded her little palms with peanut m&m's. We want her to be old enough to decide and hear from God herself on when to test that. But it's okay that we haven't seen proof of a miracle yet. I don't mind waiting for God's timing, and believing in Him until He preforms His Word.

"The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were."

I'm just waiting for the morning that she puts on her glasses and complains because she can see clearly with them off, but not with them on.