and realized what she was doing. That was when she got on her
knees.
“God,” she prayed, “I’ve wasted so much time on self-pity. Please
forgive me. I can’t do this on my own. I need you so much. Show me
what to do, Lord. Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”
Something heavy lifted from her spirit right then. She felt a sense
of joy! She was following the Lord again. Her life was his adventure,
not her ego trip.
The first thing Toni heard the Lord telling her to do was to open
a tearoom.
“A tearoom?” she questioned. “But I can’t even cook!”
“Just trust me,” he said.
So Toni, with the help of several other ladies in her husband’s
congregation, began preparing a delicious and beautifully served
luncheon after church every Sunday. All of the town’s denominations
began to be attracted to The Parish House, as the tearoom was called.
In fact, it became a meeting place for the whole town.
The next message she got from God involved putting on concerts
for people in the little town. She was surprised to find that there
were several other musicians who missed using their gifts on the
piano, violin, viola, and Toni herself on the French horn.
I was in awe when she sent me a video of their first performance.
Not only classical pieces, but also worship choruses and hymns were
on the program. God was honored as these musicians brought their
talents and their faith together.
Why do we doubt that God longs to use whoever we are wher-
ever we are if only we will yield to him? He’s waiting only for a
prayerful surrender.
101 MOST POWERFUL PRAYERS IN THE BI BLE 85