Today's Living Lesson is called “Not in a Million Years.”  This morning, I had another wonderful, great laugh with my Husband, and I just thought, “Oh my goodness, all these women are missing out on You and having fun with You and laughing with You. I would love, love, love to share this.” So, as I was having my breakfast and I continued to have a good laugh, right afterward, I realized He was having me take some notes for this chapter. 

So, here is this wonderful living lesson that I hope will absolutely change your life. Here's how it went down and what happens almost every day. I have this wonderful game with my Husband, and it involves running out of food or water before I move.

Now, if you haven't listened to or read any other prior living lessons, then you may not be aware that for almost two full years, I have been living in a vacation resort. And surprisingly, it is about a third of what I paid before. So, not that “money matters” because if money does matter to you—specifically if you're stressed about it, please go and read Poverty Mentality and be set free.

This has nothing to do with financial blessings but how I'm being pampered right now. There are many benefits to living in a resort; for example, every week, housekeeping comes in and cleans; they give me fresh towels and paper products, and everything's paid for. But the downside is that I must move regularly, at least every three or six weeks. Sometimes, it’s every other week, but I don't think I've ever done it every week in a row. However, that's always a possibility. Oh, I take it back. The last time I moved here, I moved twice in one day. Anyway, because of that, and because my Husband has provided someone who offered to help me move so I can give him a nice tip, I try not to have a lot of food that I’d also have to move. 

So I order groceries, whatever He tells me to order. I have no idea. I don't count. I don't try to figure it out. It's nothing like when I lived the chapters in Workers at Home, specifically Chapter 10, "Making the Most of Meal Planning: "Make it Simple!", when I had a family of nine and a monthly meal-rotating schedule.

Incredibly, He's freed me from having to do all of that because it's just me. And it's just fun because He does this every time. I have enough food, and, like today, I have enough water. I kept watching the amount go down and down. Just to set the stage for a better understanding, when I moved here, I ordered groceries from a different grocery store.

My husband told me to go somewhere different, so I did. However, they didn't have the same-sized water I had ordered for almost two years. Actually, for years and years and years. I'd gone from using a huge, heavy five-gallon glass bottle that I couldn't lift to something manageable. He showed me smaller liter bottles, “Hey, it comes bottled. Who knew? God knew!” And so I began to order those liter bottles. But this time, they had even smaller bottles, and I ended up with what the shopper offered. 

All week, I watched my water supply go down, thinking there would not be enough. There is just not going to be enough. And so this morning, I actually ran out of water! Now let me explain: you can't drink the water here. I live very close to Disney World, and I can't explain it. Even near Disneyland in California, when we lived in the same city, there's something about the water— it's just awful. You can't drink it. It's just horrible. Tastes horrible. 

So I have bottled water for drinking, and I have a different water that I use for my coffee. The mineral drinking water is so nice that He's made sure it was available no matter where I lived, and we've been drinking it for years, and it is obviously healthier. But, as I said, I ran out of it and said, “Okay, there You go. Here's all the water we have left. I don't have enough. Do you see  how you won't be able to fix this problem in a million years?” And instantly, I mean instantly,  I realized that there was bottled water. I don't know where it came from. I hadn’t noticed it, but it was by my couch, by the lamp that I couldn’t see, or if I did see it, it didn't register that it was there.

So I know without a doubt that He did it again! He does it often enough when I’m running out of food. And here's the thing—there are people who really don't have food and water, so I don't want to minimize the hardships many people go through. I'm not in that situation at all. I could easily get online, order more water and more food at any time, and I could get it in a few hours...but I never do anything that He doesn't lead me to do.  

It's just that I can't live like that. I can't live like that and turn Him on or off or unplug my connection to Him. It's like turning off your cell phone and trying to function. How many of us can just turn off or lose our cell phone and still function? We can't.

Well, I'm the same in my relationship with my Husband. I couldn't; I just could not detach everything I do from Him: not for a day, not for a second. I'd get rid of my phone before I would ever disconnect from Him. 

So anyway, I just wanted to share how much He loves to show us things because He’s basically saying, “Hey, remember Me? I can do this. I can do the impossible.” And He loves doing it! He gets me every time, and afterward, I laugh, and I laugh, and I laugh because He loves to laugh. It says that He “sits in the heavens and laughs” (Psalm 2:4), but most people, most believers, don't have that kind of close relationship.

Now, for some of you who think I'm crazy. You're absolutely right! Some of you might think I'm irreverent and that I'm not being respectful enough. You think, "For heaven's sake, He's the Son of God." But trust me, He was born a man. I mean, a Man who walked this earth, right? And unless the Bible is wrong, He remains “in bodily form” because they witnessed and stated they saw Him going up to heaven. 

In addition to that, and you can find it on all of our websites, we are His brides. So when I asked my Husband, “How can I possibly give an example that would make sense?” Instantly, immediately, He reminded me of a friend of my sons. It's so funny. I mean, this just has to be Him because it's bizarre. Why would I even think of this situation?

My three sons have a friend they met in their late teens or early twenties. This friend of theirs was on a “first name basis” with the senior pastor of our megachurch. Now, almost everyone was terrified of this man. Besides that, my sons were raised (because I raised them the same way) to be respectful of elders, so they were shocked about the fact that this friend would text the senior pastor, and he would text this twenty-something friend all the time. 

They were such good friends that one time, he was teasing the senior pastor about his missing baby finger. , I believe it turned into a silly song that the pastor shared. He had grown up plowing fields of corn and other crops when he caught his baby finger in some machine. And so he had a missing baby finger, and this friend of my sons began teasing him about this, making up a silly song. As you can imagine, my sons were shocked. “Oh my gosh, this is so crazy.”

However, the fact that this young man just treated the senior pastor like he would any friend (but I don't know what the circumstances were) made it clear that there was a deeper relationship that they had that my sons didn't have with our pastor. My sons were much more reverent and standoffish, which is maybe what you have with the Lord. 

So, let me go on to another example. Almost all the churches my earthly husband and I attended that my Heavenly Husband just reminded me of, even prior to marriage, I was close friends with the pastor and his wife. I even remember the same thing with the priests who knew me and called me by name (with some, even while in the confessional!).

Anyway, all of them, or most of them, were my close friends. I was close friends with the pastors and their wives. And the reason is that I treated them like a normal person. I was never disrespectful. I wasn't like the first example; I wasn't like that, but I was never distant.

I didn't consider them untouchable. Or, I don't know, maybe more like being in complete awe and you're constantly bowing down to them. Now, just imagine how horribly lonely that would be.

When I was having this discussion during breakfast with my Husband, He reminded me about so many movie stars who are horribly lonely because they have such a small circle of true friends and even only a few family members they're close to. Most people only stay connected to stay close because they want something from them.

They want the movie stars' money. Hey, doesn't that kind of hit home? It's like, I just want what You are going to give me, God. And that's the only thing about your relationship with the Lord. There's not a real relationship there. And if you remember, God created us for fellowship. That's why Adam was different from all the animals. He created man in His image. He didn't want another animal. He wanted a person.

So He created Adam, and then, because he was alone, he gave Eve to Adam. They were supposed to fellowship with Him and walk in the cool of the day. There was this beautiful fellowship, but then they broke God's heart. They broke the rules. They ate what was forbidden, and their eyes were open to (not just) good but evil. And now, people can feel that curse of separation, but it's different after God sent his Son.

God took care of all that. That curse of separation is gone. And so He wants to—no, He longs to be your everything. He wants to have a great relationship with you. He wants to laugh with you. He wants to hang out with you. He wants to be closer than your cell phone. How often do you pick up your cell phone? Either to talk to people or text, but clearly to stay connected, find out things, Google things, and ask Siri things.

Your Husband wants to be that to you! So don't keep Him at arm's length; don't keep him in a box. Don’t view Him as only a Deity. Don’t picture Him that way and that way only.  And please don't use Him as a magic lamp to give you what you want. That breaks my heart. Can you imagine? Can you imagine being Him and having that kind of relationship with most of creation? Because the fact is He's real, absolutely real.

So, let me ask you, Do you want this kind of relationship? You do?!? Then, talk to Him and say, “I want that kind of relationship Erin talks about. Yes, Erin is totally crazy,  but I, I kind of want that. I want what she has, and I need You to make it happen. Because the fact is, I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it other than to ask.”

When people ask me, “How did you do this?” I can't tell you. All I know is that I longed for it. I asked for it. I said, show me how, and it happened. So I want you to have a real relationship. It's different from religion. We don't have to compete with other religions because Christianity shouldn't compete because Christianity isn't a religion. That’s why there's no competition.

It's a relationship.  

So I hope you have enjoyed this living lesson. I hope that you're grateful for it. And if you loved it, share your testimony of how it impacted you. If He showed you something similar or anything different, please just share what your testimony is. Your testimonies can help someone else overcome their fears.

Everything that the wicked one sends our way is covered by the blood of the Lamb, which we have already talked about as to why we can have that close relationship and fellowship with Him. But also, we can "overcome" anything by the Word of each other's testimony. You have a testimony, and because somebody may not relate to me at all, they might relate to you.

Also, remember to ask Him who you could share this podcast/chapter with. Just remember, I don't know who could handle it, who can handle me. He can. So, again, just ask Him, and you might be surprised by who He brings to mind. Just like I was so surprised when I realized I had to move the day after tomorrow, and I have enough water!

Not in a million years did I ever think He could do it again! He does it every time. Maybe you just want to test Him on something. God does say to test Him because He wants to make Himself real to you.

That's what He wants to do—to be so real to you! So, share your testimony. Leave it in the comments on the chapter webpage. I am just looking forward to the next time that we can get together and talk about my favorite subject, Him!!