What an amazing spirit-filled weekend. We had Gma Donna speak to us through training on Saturday and for our Sunday Celebration. If you were not able to make it, please try to see the recordings:
Donna Parachin, Spiritual Realms (part 1) – September 21, 2024
Donna Parachin, Spiritual Realms (part 2) – September 21, 2024
TLCF Sunday – September 22, 2024 – Donna Parachin
As Donna was speaking, the Lord was highlighting a word that I felt was important for the next season: Increase Capacity. It was a word, not about doing more – but a word to encourage us that as God has trusted us with little, He will begin to trust us with more.
Karyne and I celebrated our 15th anniversary on September 12. We have been married for 15 years, happily married for 13 years. Those first 2 years were rough. When Donna asked the church family to close our eyes and remember a moment where God knocked you off your feet and changed your life, a moment when God overwhelmed you, the Lord brought me to an Overflow Retreat where our speaker was… DONNA!
In our first years of marriage, Karyne and I were greatly struggling. We loved each other, we cared for one another – but we were just SO different. Karyne liked to run, I liked to sleep. Karyne liked to talk, I liked to not talk. Karyne liked Indian food, I liked McDonalds. We had absolutely nothing in common. We were just SO different. We were struggling in our marriage, we had nothing in common, and 2 years in we felt like we were in a bad place. How were we going to survive the next 70 years of our married lives if we couldn’t even survive the first 2 years of our marriage together?
We felt utterly defeated. At the Overflow retreat, Donna went around and started praying for the people. Karyne and I were together, and Karyne was simply sobbing and crying her eyes out. She was broken and felt like there was no hope for us.
Donna, aka Gma, came and laid her hands on us. She started praying and said words that would forever change our lives. She prayed over us, “your greatest strengths are your differences.” Simple words, but filled with the Holy Spirit, absolutely changed everything. What we saw as our greatest weakness, she spoke into us would be our greatest strength. We didn’t know how it would be our strength, but something in our spirit changed. We had hope.
Karyne’s family has always been extremely entrepreneurial. Her grandparents owned a grocery store in the Philippines, her parents owned gas stations and other business endeavours. I was a man who was looking to be a pastor. Love God, love the people, pray all day. Not one bone in me ever thought about opening a business. But as Karyne and I started to engage our differences – not as weakness – but as potential strengths, she kept talking about starting a business and she kept encouraging and pushing me to seek the Lord about business. In the end we started a franchised business. Today we have over 30 employees and steward a business that does over $1,000,000 in revenue per year.
God spoke and Karyne pushed me to INCREASE CAPACITY. What I never thought of or imagined could be possible all of a sudden became a reality. Our capacity increased.
Donna shared that increasing our capacity will require 2 things. It will require God and it will require one another – the family of Lifespring. God is calling us to increase our capacity, but He is not asking us to do it alone. He is guiding us to do it together.
We don’t have superheroes at Lifespring – maybe Alvin & Patricia – but we have a Kingdom Family that genuinely loves God and genuinely cares for others. And because of this I am confident that though “Increase Capacity” can be scary – just like starting a business was scary – “Increase Capacity” by the power of God and support and care of one another can be done. His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Love you Lifespring family. I am truly excited about where God wants to guide us next. Amen.