E News 4-08-08

SELAH MINISTRIES
Carla Reed, Minister
21200 E Country Vista Dr #L-104
Liberty Lake, WA 99019
Cells: 509-599-0433 or 605-376-0033

selahministries@hotmail.com

www.carlareed.com


Dearest Friends and Prayer Partners,

Blessings to each of you once again!! It is the Heart of our Father that we bless one another and encourage each other in the Faith. As I have traveled, I have sensed great discouragement and confusion among many and when it happens among our ranks, it is most disheartening. It is my desire to be a Strength and Encourager to all of you. Let me know if my words bring comfort and counsel. That is my goal.

I want to share a Glory Story with you that happened in days gone by. Before I do, let me make a few announcements. (Just like church)

1. I’m delighted to report that my website, www.carlareed.com has been updated and beautifully done by my friend, Pam Clark of Moravian Falls, NC. She has been patient with my novice ideas and I want to commend and thank her for her generosity, expertise, and the investment of her talent and time. If you are needing a website, please contact her at www.PamClarkWebDesigns.com.

The website will make it easy to obtain ministry information, order CD’s and products, and keep up with past newsletters posted as a blog. You can even add your comments. There is a sample track of each CD on the website that you can listen to or you can refer them to others to order.

There is a page to order Akiane’s books and you will also see some snapshots with her.

You can order “My Story”, the booklet I wrote about my association with Ruth Heflin, and the humorous and insightful look into what happens when the Lord lays His hand upon an ordinary woman.

I’m also working on links to the Kodak Gallery that will help you view pictures online. It’s my plan to incorporate some of the newsletters with new books and pictures that will help me leave a legacy of HIS Faithfulness to my friends and family. If you have suggestions, let me know. What would you like to read about?

2. I hope you enjoyed the last newsletter and the good news of products available to regain your health and momentum. The website for information and ordering is www.uriinternational.com/urisong

There is currently a fantastic special for new customers who can order the products without joining. It is an excellent starter package with a money back guarantee for $43.95. You receive a 300g canister of The Feast, which are 30 servings, one Free shaker cup, two Free samples of Beyond Berries and two Free samples of the Feast Supercharged. It is retail value of nearly $60. You can call in your order at 1-888-940-4001 Toll-Free, and be sure to mention the code MAG1-24169 to obtain the special price. My member # 24169 is in the code.

To view the very informational maglog about our current food supplies and nutrition, go to www.urilife.com/urisong and follow the steps to access the presentation.

If you are interested in joining, please go to www.urilife.com/urisong and read about the wonderful opportunities available. My Uri membership number is #24169. Or you can go to www.uriinternational.com/urisong and click on “join us”. There is a one time fee of $9.95 that will give you a free catalog, website, and CD.

Be Blessed, Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise!!!

__________________________________________


On Thursday, I will be leaving Liberty Lake to drive to Challis, ID and speak at the Southern Idaho Region Aglow Ladies Retreat. It will be a wonderful time of seeing many wonderful friends I’ve known for several years since first speaking at Aglow meetings in Idaho Falls, Pocatello, and Twin Falls. We will be meeting at the beautiful facilities and conference center known as Living Waters Ranch in Challis. Christopher and Debbie James have built and manage one of the most beautiful retreat and conference centers that I’ve ever seen. Add that to the rugged Idaho wilderness and it is a site to behold. If you are looking for a place to have a retreat or church camp, contact them. Their website is: www.LivingWatersRanch.org.

The drive from Liberty Lake to Challis will be about 400 miles and one of the most scenic in America. I ought to know. You drive I-90 to Missoula, MT and then take Hwy 93 south for about 200 miles into the Idaho wilderness. The drive from Salmon, ID to Challis has to be one the most beautiful anywhere. I’ve taken dozens of pictures on my way to or from, so it usually takes me twice as long to get there. Every turn seems to be a postcard as the highway winds along the beautiful Salmon River. Sacagawea of Lewis and Clark fame was born in Salmon, ID and a visitors’ center tells the story.

Just for fun, I’m going to tell you how I first met Christopher and Debbie. The year was 2001 and I was on my way back to the west coast shores to pray and pour out the waters of America. It was the first time I traveled alone. At that time, Josh, then 15, was getting travel weary and had an opportunity to stay with wonderful friends, Marc and Leslie, near Elkton, SD. It has been difficult to say goodbye, but knew he would have a good summer working with Marc on the acreage they had bought and were cleaning up.

That was the summer I spend two weeks in a Wyoming circuit that still connects me to many wonderful friends. I spoke nearly every night in a different place, but I saw the incredible landscapes of Wyoming and began to fall in love with the West. The first summer that Josh and I traveled west was 2000 when we drove via the southern part of the nation that took us thru New Mexico, Arizona and then to California to pray at the Pacific Ocean for the first time in San Juan Capistrano. I could hardly believe we had crossed the country by faith in that old white Plymouth Voyager that eventually wore out. I’ll never forget seeing the ocean for the first time in my life and thinking it was probably a “once in a lifetime” trip for Josh and I. At that time, I had no idea I would drive across America many times.

That particular trip set me up for some connections the next summer. We must see that our obedience in one thing paves the way and creates a grid of friendships that will allow us to build the net for the Kingdom of God. On the first trip in 2000, I received two invitations to Blackfoot, ID via an email correspondence. Neither party knew the other had contacted me and I had two excellent meetings. I’m very grateful for my friendship to Brian and Susanne Harrison who pastor Father’s House in Blackfoot and who first contacted me in 2000. We have maintained a valuable relationship and I consider Brian a true brother in the Lord.

Also that summer, I met a couple, Carey and Denise Warren of Idaho Falls, who invited me to come the next summer of 2001 and speak at a conference they were hosting. At that time I was sharing about the waters and spoke at their conference and my first Aglow meeting in Idaho Falls. Before I left, we prayed and poured the waters into the beautiful Snake River that runs thru the city and in the shadow of a huge Mormon Tabernacle. While there for several days, I kept hearing about a place somewhere called Living Waters Ranch. I had no idea where it was but every time I heard it, my spirit was quickened in curiosity. As I was leaving, I learned it would be on my way to Salmon, Idaho where I would be speaking at a home group. I decided to call and make a reservation for the night. The manager, Mark, told me about their facilities and made a lovely chalet available for me. It was gorgeous there!! It seemed fitting that the "waterlady" would find such a place.

I happened to arrive about time for the evening meal. Mark invited me to join him and the conference church group that was meeting over the weekend. After getting my plate and meal, a lady named Debbie came up to me. She said she realized I probably wanted time alone, but wanted to invite me to their church conference evening service and mentioned they had a wonderful worship team. I politely thanked her, but had no intentions of going to another meeting when my eyes could behold the beauty of the area outside a gorgeous chalet.

However, something in her invitation drew me and to my surprise I found myself getting ready to go to a meeting I had not planned to go to. I got there for part of the worship and just in time to see a couple dance together the most beautiful elegant dance I’d ever seen about the Bridegroom. It so touched my heart that I didn’t even want to stay for the rest of the meeting and quietly slipped out. I was just meant to see that dance.

The next morning, Christopher came over and offered to take me on a tour of the ranch. The church group was in the process of checking out and we stopped in one of the buildings long enough to meet up again with Debbie, the lady who invited me, and her husband, Rob S. They had just driven through South Dakota taking a daughter to college. I learned they lived near Mt Hood, OR and that many of the group were also from there. They invited me to come and see them if I got to the area. I took down their information and sure enough, I did get to see them and speak at their church near Welches, OR. I still maintain contact and relationships with many wonderful people who live on the mountain who I met by Divine Appointment in Challis, ID. In fact, I was just there last summer again meeting with these fine people of Church Alive.

Fast Forward: When I arrived that first time in Welches, OR in November, 2001, I heard the “rest of the story”. Debbie S had arrived early at Living Waters Ranch that previous August to help prepare for the conference guests who would be coming. She asked Debbie James if there was anything she could do to help. Debbie said they liked to put the names of guests on their doors and pray for them. She had noted my name had been hand-written in and added to the guest roster as I was not one of their conference attendees. She had put my name on the door of the chalet and prayed for me before I even stepped foot on the grounds. When she saw me enter the dining area with Mark, the manager, she thought it might be the Carla Reed she had prayed for. That is why she came over and invited me to the evening service. And, even tho’ I had not planned to go, I found myself strangely drawn by her invitation and had arrived just in time to see Bob and JoAnn dance their beautiful rendition of Jesus, the Bridegroom and the Bride.

Back to my first visit to Challis - or “Back at the Ranch…”

Christopher inquired as to what I did, and I remember wryly asking him: “Do you really want to know?” With that I explained what I was doing with water and he became very excited as he wanted me to pray with them at a well springs up the valley that they hoped to use to bottle water. He also took me back to the dining area to meet the couple who had danced the night before, Bob and JoAnn Rashford, who were working as staff.

As we talked I learned that Christopher and Debbie James had moved up to Idaho from the Tampa, Florida area and that Debbie’s father and step-mother also belonged to the same ministerial fellowship I did in Bradenton, FL, under Dr Gerald Derstine. Small world indeed. We became family. Bob and Jo Ann were in full time ministry and travel, working at the ranch that summer and traveled with Debbie’s folks, George and Barbara Ragland of Eagle Wings Ministry in St Petersburg, FL. In fact, to ‘Fast Forward’ again, I was blessed to stay with George and Barbara Ragland in January. I first met them in January 2002 and we have stayed in touch. Lots of connections sure came out of my stopping that August night in 2001.

The next summer of 2002, Joshua was traveling with me again and we were on our way to the west coast to pray at the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, OR, the end of the Lewis and Clark trail. That summer, we toured thru Yellowstone National Park and to pray at the Old Faithful geyser. After that, we made our way to Idaho Falls, so I could introduce him to my new friends. I also called to make reservations to stay at Living Waters Ranch as I wanted him to see that beautiful place.

When we got there, I leaned that Bob and JoAnn were working for the summer. I introduced Josh to them and we had a good time of visiting. That spring, Josh had turned 16 years old. We had been traveling for a few years and were both getting very road weary. He had taken his GED exam and easily passed, ending our home-schooling years of juggling travel and books. I had sometimes worried if he was learning all he needed to and then he sailed thru his GED tests. What a relief!! With that we wanted to start checking our colleges across the country as he wanted to study Aviation Maintenance. Since he was a small boy he has wanted to fly and learn how airplanes work. As we shared our intentions with Bob and JoAnn, they told us about Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, WA that was known for an outstanding program in Aviation Maintenance. They had lived in Moses Lake before entering the ministry where JoAnn had a dance studio. We took note of it with the idea we might try to visit the college on our way thru the state of Washington.

Within 2-3 weeks, we called the college and stopped in Moses Lake to check out their program as a possibility - some day. To our amazement, they would accept him at 16 years old and he could start that fall, about 6 weeks later. We learned that if I moved to Washington, the college would waive most of the out-of-state tuition. At that time tho' everything was in storage, we were still residents of South Dakota. However, Josh was still a minor and it would position us to have our own home again and allow him to fulfill his dream of going to college to study airplanes.

After several phone calls and much prayer, I knew that the Lord was giving us the direction we had been pleading for and that was to move to Moses Lake, WA. I had fallen in love with the northwest the summer and fall before in 2001 when I spent several weeks at another glorious retreat center known as Methow Valley Ranch near Winthop, WA. Check out that beautiful place at www.mvministries.com. So my idea of moving to Washington was mountains and rivers. I was in for a quite the surprise when we did look for a place in Moses Lake to find it was the center of what is called the basin and is the driest area of the state, about 12 inches of rainfall a year. I couldn’t believe it! We were moving to the desert!

The Lord graciously allowed us to find a beautiful condo for rent on Moses Lake which was our home for 2 ½ years until Josh entered the army in 2005. I loved it there even if it was on the 3rd floor with no elevator.

Joshua entered their AMT program in September 2002 and successfully completed five quarters of instruction in General, Airframe, and Power Plant, took all his FFA exams, and to the surprise of the department heads became the youngest person to ever enter their program and complete it before he was 18 years old. We celebrated his 18th birthday on April 1, 2004 with his receiving his signed A & P license. That fall he took some general courses to round out a two year Associate of Science degree. Then he entered the army in March 2005 and has trained as an Apache Helicopter machanic with the 82nd Airborne. He earned his Paratrooper wings in 2005. It was a joy to welcome him home on leave from Iraq last year at this time and in October, he came back after a 15 month tour to Ft Bragg, NC. Spec Joshua Reed just celebrated his 22nd birthday on April 1. If you remember him, you can email him at jreed_amt@hotmail.com, or call him at 509-361-3175. He will be based at Ft Bragg until further deployment possibly to Iraq in 2009.

I call this a Glory Story as I see how the Lord has woven so many of our lives and events together for His Kingdom purposes. It has been nearly 8 years since that first visit to just find out about it. I did not know that our move to Washington state the next summer would be build upon that simple act of obedience. Selah.

In closing, beloved friends, let us celebrate and remember how we met and know that the Lord introduces us for a reason. The Kingdom of God is being built upon relationships and love. Let us love one another.

If I can be of service to you or pray with you, please let me know. Let us cherish and honor our friendships and encourage one another as we watch the Lord unfold His plans for us in the years ahead. Connected on purpose, for a purpose.

Your prayers and financial support are so needed and deeply appreciated. Please continue to stand with me. I will go where I’m invited and thank you for sending me off with your blessings of finances and intercession. All gifts are tax deductible.


To the Glory of HIS Grace,


Carla


These are a few snapshots taken last spring on my way to Challis, ID. I have many more when I can find them.

"Taking the Scenic Route"

Here they are!
More Pictures...