Hello! Welcome to my blog A Heart of Worship: Cultivating a heart of worship in daily life. Today I want to share my story of waiting for my husband and true love. My husband and I fell in love just over 1 year and 10 months ago this coming new year we will have officially been married 2 years! This is an excerpt from my ministry newsletter of that journey. God is faithful and does answer prayers!
We are pregnant with purpose.
by Catherine Chartrand on March 07 2017
Isaiah 43:18-19 Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
After going through a season of surrender, deliverance and heart purification, I felt the Lord say to move back to my hometown in Maryland November 18, 2016. I remember the battle between the flesh and the will of God. As I surrendered my will the peace of God came into my heart in a deeper way. He gave me grace to trust God to provide for me financially, sell most of my belongings in my 2 bed, 1 bathroom home I was renting and pack my little 2007 red Ford focus to the top ,which was a miracle everything fit, to return home. I had developed throat nodrils earlier that year and being a musician/ music teacher this is not a fun thing to have! God was trying to get my attention by allowing situations to break my will. I was determined that I was called to bring revival to Pensacola and the school system. I realized that God was only asking me to posture my heart like Abraham had done with his only son Isaac (Genesis 22:1-2) to let go of dreams and visions so he can work and receive the glory. That day November 18, 2016 I could feel the presence, peace and fire of God burning within me as I drove home to Germantown, MD. Little did I know that within a matter of 3 days my whole life was about to change in a new beginning!
On November 22, 2016 Anthony Chartrand a dear friend of interest to me asked to come visit me in Maryland. I felt the fire of God to invite him to American Thanksgiving! He said yes. I had met this precious brother in 2012 at America Ablaze ministries and he had caught my eye as an attractive man of God I would like to be with. He walked in such peace with the Father which caused me to ask God about him. I just felt like God told me it was not the right timing in 2012 but to surrender him. Which I did again and again! Different times throughout the years Anthony called me and we had an amazing connection in God and as friends. I was becoming a school teacher at the time and ministering while God was working on my character asking me to loose my image to take on his image. At the time I was really being tested in my heart with God. I was very busy! It was November 23, 2016 the day before Thanksgiving, Anthony phoned me that he was not feeling well. I released him to the Lord and choose to trust God. The next morning I received a text that said “Surprise, I am on the bus and will be at the Union station at 1:30 pm! Wow! My heart leapt with joy and destiny because I knew this was God. My sister Heather helped me pick him up at the bus station and the next week is history!
We fell in love almost instantly and he asked me to be his girlfriend November 29! Within the next two days I had a divine encounter with the Holy Spirit who walked into my bedroom and asked me, will I lay down everything to follow him? God asked me to book a ticket to Canada to meet Anthony in Canada! The next month we dated, met his entire family, ministered on the Native reservation, (which is part of Anthony’s heritage being half first Nation) and received visions about marriage and going to the nations together! God showed me a vision while at Tsaykehdene of a harvest of people and I heard him say “Cathy this is part of your inheritance too! You and Anthony are going to help pastor my first Nations people here.”
God had called me to the nations ever since I was a little girl specifically Hong Kong. At 12 years old I read the book “Chasing the dragon,” by Jackie Pullinger and was undone. He called me to the nations but I didn’t realize he wanted to send me to the first Nations people as well! I longed to go to Hong Kong to bring Jesus life to people like I had read in “Chasing the dragon.” I had forgotten about that call to China and when we began dating the Lord reminded me.
We saw God move through us on the first Nations reserve powerfully as the love of God touched broken, desperate hearts. We had many opportunities to share Jesus and pray in homes where groups of people were gathered to pray. We saw a leader of the town healed of sickness as Anthony laid hands on him. Anthony left him briefly after laying hands on him and returned with me within minutes. We were shocked to find this elder of the town running around the house fully dressed and completely healed! A few moments ago they were going to take him to the hospital! There are many more stories and amazing things that happened leading up to January 13 when he proposed to me!
I had waited my whole life for my husband. A long awaited dream fulfilled! There were many prayers and tears trusting God waiting for the best he had for me. I had never had a boyfriend or been kissed at age 38, finally my prayers had been answered when I chose to align with God’s will and timing. Such peace and joy flooded my soul!! We knew God was calling us right away to the nations on January 28, 2017 Isaiah 43:19 was fulfilled in our lives. We were happily married by amazing church family Cornerstone in Frederick, MD. Loved ones came from around around the states and the world as they watched on live stream to bless and sow into our union. It was everything I had ever dreamed of and more! God had been planning my wedding for years. It was so sweet and worth the wait with every test and trial! During the wait many times I lost hope and thought has Daddy God forgotten about me? No he was simply waiting on me!! He is always a good Father, even during test and trials. He has the best for us! All glory to Jesus! Our emotions do not determine who he is which is always faithful until the end!! Many times God will ask us to do things that don’t make sense and can seem so hard at the time. My whole life my heart has cried out to know God on a deep level not just about him. I always knew I would be married and have children because it was a desire that burned within my heart. In order to bring life on this earth we must be first willing to give our life completely! This is who we are and what we are called to do.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV
http://bible.com/59/2co.5.21.ESV.
Earthen Vessels for his glory! by Catherine Marie Chartrand
We must be sure of our identity in Christ! Receive his love, gift of heaven, his heart for us. It is his desire to gather sons and daughters who burn in their hearts with his desire to carry the baby of heaven in their lives! The Lamb of God, living and breathing inside of us!! To see Jesus receive his full reward for choosing to give his all for us! This is Pure love ! Wow! What an honor to be chosen by him! He took all of our hell on the cross and made us the righteousness of God. The cross was the place where the bridegroom asked for the Bride of Christ’s hand in eternal marriage. We have been given something better than money or even the joy of finding a marriage partner here on earth.
“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
1 Corinthians 1:27-30 ESV
http://bible.com/59/1co.1.27-30.ESV.
We have been given the righteousness of Christ! This blows my mind when I think about this. Friends we can’t earn this gift, we simply have to run into the arms of our loving heavenly Father – Daddy God, who wants us just as we are with faults and imperfections. As we run into the loving arms of our Father he wants to give us a gift. A free gift that cost him everything. It is the gift of his son! He wants to impregnate us with his Son. All we have to do is surrender our will and life so he can give us his purpose completely and impregnate us with the love of the Father which is his Son- the Lamb of God. This life in you is the baby of heaven that will be so precious to you. You will want to take care of this gift as you can feel and sense him in you move. Just like a pregnant mom watches everything that she eats, so will you when you encounter his life in you. You will not want to eat the things of the world that will make you sick. He will place his love in you and help. Today If you are feeling sad, lonely or depressed it’s OK to be real and tell Daddy God. He completely understands and longs to just hold you in his arms as you surrender your will. He will take your brokenness and form his son inside of you as you turn from that sin of independence repent allow the blood of Jesus to wash you. He knows that we are just earthen vessels with this treasure inside of us. I pray he touches your heart today with this truth!
