OUR BLOG HAS MOVED!

Hi, guys! We've decided to stop using blogspot and start using WordPress.com. If you would like to continue reading our posts, please go to davidandkatya.wordpress.com. We would LOVE to stay in touch with all of you! :D Thank you SO much for your prayers and support!

We are moving on!

...and we can't wait to see you!

Katya and I are finally ready to announce that our ministry here in L’viv is coming to a close. Before we go to our next thing, we really want to come back to the States and visit all of you guys. Please be praying for us through this exciting and challenging time. It’s hard for us to leave the church that we helped start. We’ve been with these people from the beginning, and we feel like a family, but we know that God is moving us on.

Katya and I would LOVE to be there before Christmas, but that does not give us much time to save up for tickets or get the documents for Katya’s visa. We have been working on that for the last few months, so please pray for that continuing process.

There are some things we will need while we are in America: a car to drive, a place to stay, short-term employment (for Katya and myself), etc. If you would be able to help us with some of these things or know someone who can, please just respond to this e-mail. Looking forward to singing Christmas carols with you all!

Thank you all VERY much for praying with us!

- David and Katya Snead

Click here to read the entire newsletter from Oct 2013.

Vacation / Prayer Retreat

Katya and I are going on our first vacation together (aside from our honeymoon) next week, but it's also going to be a time for us to be alone and seek God. Please be praying for us to have a very relaxed time. We'll be going to one of the port cities here in Ukraine, and we're hoping the weather will be warm enough for us to go swimming on the beach. We've been feeling like we needed to get away for a while and spend some time as a couple relaxing and reconnecting with God and each other.

Thanks a lot, everyone!

Scared to lead, not committed to discipleship...

I know, I know, you're probably thinking, "What does an old kareoke machine have to do with discipleship? Just wait a minute and I'll get to that. Before I get there, I want to tell you all a little story from my teenage-hood.

I've been playing on worship teams since shortly after I learned to play guitar. It started in a small group that my dad led at his house in Houston when I was about 14 or 15, but long before that I hung around the worship team members, trying to learn all that I could from them at my church in North Carolina.

When my family moved to Houston, we started going to a big church on the west side of town. The youth leadership one day asked if anyone was interested in playing on the worship team. They said to attend a practice later that week. My parents had just purchased me an brand-new electric guitar. It was an Ibanez 165. I still have it, and I still love that guitar. I didn't have an amp, pedals, or much skill with an electric, but I still SO wanted to play electric in the church band.

When I came to the practice, they decided to make two different worship teams, or, at least, that's what it seemed to me that they were doing. Most of the musicians stayed in the main hall for the senior-high worship team, and they set me up in a separate room with my electric guitar and a kareoke machine for my guitar amp.

I stayed there, waiting for the rest of the musicians that would make up the jr. high worship team, and no one came. I played my guitar for a little while, entertaining myself, still waiting, and still no one came.

I finally went back into the main room and asked one of the youth leaders what had happened, and he said, "Oh... I thought we got you all set up in the other room." In other words, I'm pretty sure they were just trying to keep me occupied in that room while they practiced.

I really hope I don't sound angry - I don't fault them at all. That's a really hard situation to be in. I've been in that place a few times, trying not to hurt someone's feelings while knowing *for sure* that they weren't ready for the position they wanted on the worship team.

Since then, I've been a worship leader in four different churches, and two of my guitar students have gone on to be worship leaders in their churches; however, I've had a lot of trials-by-fire, made many mistakes, and no one has mentored me in the "art of worship leading."

If God's plan for the future includes me being a worship leader again, I really hope that I'll have the patience to take "little Davids with electric guitars" under my wing, see their future, and direct them towards their potential. That is *really* hard to see, though, without spending time with someone.

Wedding Registry Didn't Work?

Hey, there, everyone!  A couple of you wrote to me to say that our wedding registry links didn't work.  If that was the case, here is the info again:

If you would like to get us something from our wedding registry, and you're not in Ukraine, we've made it very easy for you to do that. Because shipping costs so much from America, and because several of the things we need can already be purchased here in Ukraine or Poland, we've set up and "example list" on Amazon.com. PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE THEM ONLINE AS THEY MAY NOT GET TO US!!! :D Instead, you can add money to our PayPal account, and we will purchase them here.  (Of course, you can also partially pay for an item.)

As a side note, in addition to helping us with furniture, appliances, and other things on that list, you can also help us by simply donating to our next trip to America. To do that, click here.

Here's what TO do for the gift list:

1. Click on this link to go to our registry on Amazon.com and pick something from the list that you would like to buy for us or help us pay for, but please don't buy it.
2. Take note of the price and click on the "Buying this gift elsewhere?" link next to the item so that we know it's being paid for.  (Please skip this step if you're partially paying for the item - just e-mail us in that case.)
3. Click on the button below to add that amount to our PayPal account, so that we can purchase the items here.

Our paypal account:

Also, the gifts through PayPay are not tax-deductable like your regular donations to our account.  If you would like to know more about how to support us regularly through our church, please click here.

Just a few weeks left...

Wow...  I have less than 7 weeks left as a single, young man.

God, please help me to use this time honoring You with all that I do, especially in preparation for wedding my beautiful bride, Katya.

We got our rings in the mail yesterday!  Here's a shot of them:

We went with titanium rings with a little silver stripe through the lower edge.  They're REALLY comfortable, light, and extremely strong.  I'm excited that I'm not worried about rock climbing, going camping, swimming, etc. with them, 'cause they're basically indestructible.

Please be praying for the rest of the preparation, as Katya and I are still working out the details of my wardrobe (it's kinda hard to find western wear in Western Ukraine... who knew? haha), and we are getting other little details nailed down.  I'm still working on our honeymoon dates, etc.

Wedding Gift Registry

Hey, everyone! Katya (sometimes I call her "Katie") and I are about to send out our invitations for our wedding on June 1st! If you're in L'viv at that time, please, please, please come!!!!  :D

The basic information of the ceremony is as follows:

The ceremony is on June 1st and will be held at the church "Нове Життя" ("Nove Zhyttya" or "New Life").  The address is вул. Залізняка 21. (Open the link to find the precise location.)

If you're in Ukraine and would like to get something for us, please contact Ira Zakharova at 093 487 06 88.  She is in charge of our "gift registry" here in Ukraine.

If you would like to get us something from our wedding registry, and you're not in Ukraine, we've made it very easy for you to do that. Because shipping costs so much from America, and because several of the things we need can already be purchased here in Ukraine or Poland, we've set up and "example list" on Amazon.com. PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE THEM ONLINE AS THEY MAY NOT GET TO US!!! :D Instead, you can add money to our PayPal account, and we will purchase them here.  (Of course, you can also partially pay for an item.)

As a side note, in addition to helping us with furniture, appliances, and other things on that list, you can also help us by simply donating to our next trip to America. To do that, click here.

Here's what TO do for the gift list:

1. Click on this link to go to our registry on Amazon.com and pick something from the list that you would like to buy for us or help us pay for, but please don't buy it.
2. Take note of the price and click on the "Buying this gift elsewhere?" link next to the item so that we know it's being paid for.  (Please skip this step if you're partially paying for the item - just e-mail us in that case.)
3. Click on the button below to add that amount to our PayPal account, so that we can purchase the items here.

Our paypal account:

Also, the gifts through PayPay are not tax-deductable like your regular donations to our account.  If you would like to know more about how to support us regularly through our church, please click here.

Hammer Time

You know, there's a lack in the church today. There are not enough men that are strong leaders, faithful followers, and disciples discipling others. You see women getting involved in prayer groups, fellowships, Sunday school, etc. so much more often than men, and I don't think it's just because these women are stay-at-home moms.

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
Proverbs 27:17

I know that, in my life, I need a blacksmith. What I mean is, I am SO appreciative of the older men that have come along side me to help me grow and change into the man of God that He wants me to be. Without that, I would not have grown as much. This is something that seems to me to be inherent in the lives of the men around me, too - we need that sharpening. We need other men to come around us, hammer us a bit in love, and invest real time and effort into us.

My question is - are we willing to do that for each other? Shaping metal takes time, patience, and a lot of hard, hot, dangerous work. The same can be said for helping a man grow and change. It's what we are called to do (Matthew 28:18-20), but are we replacing that with just sharing a sermon on Sunday and having a monthly, manly get-together over some greasy food?

A lone soldier is a dead solder. The Christian life is a battle for the kingdom of God, our families, and our souls. Let's get in there, get messy, and do the work of the ministry.

Rugged Beauty

You know, sometimes even things that are somewhat ugly in some ways can be quite beautiful.  This is a picture of my apartment building from behind.  I was walking up the other day to it at sunset, and I was really blessed by the visage of the sunlight streaming in those orange and yellow tones.

Now, I like my building, but others would say, "That's just an old, 80's, soviet-style, blocky apartment building.  There's nothing of beauty to appreciate!"  For me, that's home.  I have the coolest neighbors, a great landlord, an apartment that's just big enough but not too big for a guy like me, and I get to watch the sunrise AND the sunset from my windows on opposing sides of the building (if I'm home for them).

From the graffiti on the bottom left, you can see that I don't live in the best neighborhood.  I live in an area known as Levandivka ("Lev-an-DEEV-ka"), and these guys called hopnyks ("hope-nicks") are famous for living here.  That's kind of like our English word for "thug", but, in my opinion, a little less violent.  All that to say, though - they're not "the best of company".  Y'all can pray for me for that.  A lot of my friends in my neighborhood could be considered hopnyks.  I really want to reach out to those guys.  It's funny...  I have an open door with them, but I didn't really seem to be able to reach out to guys like that in America.

Anyways... just because someone else says you're ugly, your life is ugly, or what you do isn't good enough or has no purpose, doesn't mean that when God looks at you He frowns.  Others may frown at the picture of my neighborhood and my building, but I look at it and smile.  I say, "That's home!  I love my home!"  He looks at you and says, "That's my child!  I love my child!"

Thanks, God, for looking at me and smiling!

God is so gracious...

That's really all I have to say today.  God's grace amazes me!  :D

Recording an album with Josh and the guys!!!

Today me and the guys are in Ternopil!  :D  That is the next town over where George and Jonny Markey are missionaries with their families.  Joshua Pratt (the worship leader of our church and our pastor's son) is recording a new album, and I get to play electric guitar for it!  Please pray for us as we are producing this album and just getting ready to glorify God through music.  We also have an audition with the band we're forming on Saturday with a venue.  I'll update you guys later if we can upload the songs to iTunes or something so that you guys can listen.

Here's some pictures from the train ride and recording with the guys.  We're all a little tired, so please give our appearances some patience!  :D  We also got to try out Jonny's inversion machine - I've never been on one of those before!  I'm wondering if I should get one for my back, too.  I mostly have problems with my uper back, and I don't know if it helps with that.

 

CD ministry just started!

I know it is really old news for other churches, but I'm really excited about this!  I just burned the first three CD's that folks ordered at church!  Think about this - there are people that want to, outside of the walls of the church, listen to the Word of God being preached.  In fact, they want to share it with other people!  The order I just filled was placed by a guy that wanted to share these sermons with friends of his and ordered three copies of the same sermon!

It's easy to think that technology only makes a church "cooler" or "more current", but the whole purpose of our lives is to share Jesus' truth with others, and when technology helps us to do that, it's such a beautiful thing!

We even now have a podcast up (which you guys can listen to, because it's in both English and Ukrainian - click here if you want to!).  People all over Ukraine are now listening to the Word of God preached over the internet!  Please be praying for us as we keep seeking new ways to leverage technology for the Word of God and His Kingdom!

Getting into cinematography...

Hey, guys!  I'm pretty excited about some new projects that our church is starting on right now.  We just got a camera to work with for the church, and I'm really fired up to start shooting, cutting, and producing videos for the different ministries here.  Please be praying for me - I have a LOT to learn.  One of the main things we need right now is new equipment - we need a LOT more lighting at the church, and I'm looking at different software packages for editing and stuff.  The lighting there at the church for anything is AWFULLLL!!!!  (Yes, the quadruple-L was totally intentional.)

This is acutally something I've been thinking of for a while, and one of the reasons that I made the Lion Kink Chronicles with the youth group - I wanted to learn the basics of how to move with a camera, how to plot a storyline, and how to cut and do post-production.  Here's the first episode:

Thanks a lot for your prayers, views and support!

An AMAZING book!

I just got done reading an AMAZING, three-chapter, 99 cent book, and it really opened my eyes to some scriptural principles that I knew, but wasn't putting into practice in my life.  I really wanted to recommend it to you guys.  It's called the Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness.  It's a book by Timothy Keller.  Like I said, it's all of three chapters and a preface with some questions at the end, and it's only 99 for Kindle (you can get the program free on www.amazon.com).  Mike Pratt, my pastor, recommended it to me, and, seriously, you guys gotta check it out.  It's based on 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, which talks about how Paul's whole identity is in Jesus Christ.  I don't want to spoil the rest, but, if you have 30 minutes to read a great book, you won't be disappointed!

Some things go in the e-mail faster than on the blog...

Hey, guys!  I just realized that not everyone knows that Katya and I are holding off on getting married!  :D  I know that the date for the wedding's already past, so if you're just hearing now, I'm SO sorry!  If you would like to sign up for my e-mail updates, please click here to make sure you're getting them!

Here's what I wrote in the e-mail:

Katya and I were originally planning to get married at the end of October, but, after going through some pre-marital counseling with Mike and Michelle (my pastor and his wife), we both feel like we were rushing things, and some things were just not practical*.  We're going to take some more time to plan, pray, and prepare.

(Click here to see the whole e-mail.)

*i.e. - A lot of other logistical stuff, including none of my family being there.

So, anyways...  Thanks a lot for you guys prayers and support!  :D

New sites to paruse...

Just for your entertainment, here are a couple of sites, a video, and other stuff I've been working on...  Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/horizonlviv - Our existing church Facebook page (I made a couple of tweaks).
http://www.facebook.com/koinoniakafe - Our new Koinonia Kafe Facebook page
http://www.horizonlviv.org/koinoniakafe - Our new Koinonia Kafe page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WxP9Vij1Co - A promo video I produced for Koinonia Kafe

Business, Dogs, and God

The flier for Friday...

Wow, it's been a busy time lately!  Between our church starting a new concert and cafe ministry (www.facebook.com/koinoniakafe), our already existing English program (http://www.horizonlviv.org/english/), and plans for Katya and me getting married, I'm pretty busy!  I'm really glad God is working in L'viv and using us!  Please be praying for us this week as we'll be passing out around 3,000 fliers for the cafe ministry.  We're officially starting that on Saturday with a local band called Provider.  They are a Christian rock band that's been recommended to us.

The other day, I was walking Katya home like I usually do.  I think we were coming back from discussing some wedding details.  While walking and talking, we noticed a dog trotting along with us.  He was very friendly, and we called to him a little bit.

That didn't last long, because, all of a sudden, some other dog jumped out of the bushes and tried to attack that first dog!  Katya's first reaction was to grab my hand (which was already in hers) really tightly.  My first reaction was just the opposite - I whirled around to put myself between her and the dogs and wrenched my hand free from hers!  I wanted to be free to attack them or defend her as needed.  I don't know if I've ever had a quicker reaction to do something like that...  My whole concern was Katya's safety; I had no other thought.  The whole thing was over in a split-second, because the dogs had already ran away from us, but it left an impression in my mind.

I think Jesus is like that.

He saw us in the dangerous situation of mire, sin, and destruction and He had no other thought!  He only wanted to save His beloved - you!  He came down and gave Himself up for our transgressions - He put Himself between us and the danger so that we could live while He died.

I believe He is still our Savior today, and He saves us from the things that enslave and entangle us.  Though He'll never die again, the Bible says that "He always lives to interceded for us" and that He is "able to save [us] completely" because we draw near to God.  (Hebrews 7:25)

Wow... did I just put a ring on that girl's finger?

Yup!  We're engaged!  This is SO cool, and God has been SO faithful through all of it!  I'm so excited for what He is doing through our relationship!

Ok, so you're probably all wondering how we actually got engaged, right?  Well, I poured huge water bottle on the two of us!  Why in the world would I do that you ask?  It's simple.  One word - baptism.  Baptism symbolizes the changing from one life to another, one identity to another, one world to another.  It's part of what we do to symbolize our commitment to Chirst.

You could say that Katya's and my relationship started with a baptism - a threatened baptism.  Once, Katya and I were hanging out with friends and joking around when I, teasingly, threatened to throw her in the big fountain in the middle of town.  She told me that I wouldn't and couldn't do that...  To which I replied that I would.  We went back and forth, and the conversation ended.  Later on, while we were walking by the fountain at night, I picked her up with the intention of throwing her in.  Keep in mind that, at this time, we had no "declared" relationship.  This was very uncharacteristic of me.  Half way through walking from the middle of the courtyard to the fountain, in the midst of screams from her saying "You crazy boy!  David, what are you doing?" I came to my senses and said to myself, "David, this isn't your girlfriend...  What are you doing?"  It was like the Holy Spirit was saying, "Dude... definitely not time for this yet."  I put her down and let her go, to which she said something like, "I told you."

That only provoked me to want to throw her in again...  So, from that night on, I planned that, when we started dating, I would dunk her in the fountain.

That night led to one of our "define the relationship" talks that was very important to us.  We often blame the fountain for bringing us together.  Later, when I actually did ask her to pursue a relationship with me, I asked for her hand and just put it in one of the jets saying that it symbolized the commitment we have.  Often since then, just to put a smile on her face, I have taken her hand, put it in the fountain, and told her "I still like you.  I'm still committed to our relationship."  I still didn't actually baptize her, though...

This whole idea of baptism really is a huge part of the symbolism behind this for us.  9 months later, when I was preparing to propose to her, I planned on actually baptising her in the fountain, asking her to go 100% with me into our life together.  Unfortunately, on the day that I proposed, the fountain wasn't working!!!  The city was having the fountain cleaned.  That didn't matter though!  I had a backup plan!  I bought a huge waterbottle for us to drink while we were walking around town.  However, she didn't know its double-purpose of a portable bapestry.  She and I walked up to the top of the fountain and I took her hands in mine, prayed with her, wrapped my arms around her and asked her in both English and Ukrainian, "Katya, will you follow me? Will you be with me?  Will you marry me?"

Rather than tell you her answer, I would rather show you the look on her face:

I know you can't see the full expression on her face, but you can just see that she's smiling about as big as she ever has in her life...  I don't know that she's ever looked more beautiful to me than she did in this picture.

She told me at first, "How could I say no?"  She then said, "Yes."  She gave me the warmest, sweetest hug and the most innocent, sincere and pure peck on the cheek that I've ever received in my life!  I've never been kissed by "a girl that liked me" before (family members and kindergarten doesn't count in my book), so that was SO unexpected!  She and I still have never been "kissed" (on the mouth, I mean), and we are saving that for our wedding day.  That's one of ways God has shown Himself faithful to the two of us.  He's really kept us pure for each other.

Now, if you noticed and were following the theme from earlier, we're still not wet in that picture.  Well, while we were still in that hug, I reached behind her, grabbed the big water bottle, and poured it all over the both of us, effectively "baptising" us into this new commitment toward marriage for the two of us!  That was so much fun.  I then gave the water bottle to her, and she got me even MORE wet with it!

We're getting married in October this year!  If any of you can come, please contact me ASAP!  If not, we're planning on having some kind of reception in America towards Christmas.  I will keep you all updated here, through Facebook, and through the newsletters.

Український Блог

Доброго дня всім! Я зробив цей блог тому що я хочу ще бути в контакті з моїми друзями в Америці та також мати веб-сайт де мої спонсори можуть бачити, як у мене справи в Україні. З дитинства я жив в Америці в п'яти різних штатах: Техас, Північна Кароліна, Каліфорнія, Індіана, та Міссурі. Індіана - це останній штат, де я жив, вчився і потім працював у біблійному коледжі. Загалом, я був у цьому коледжі п'ять років. Також я працював на християнсьому таборі "Camp Indy" в місті Індіанаполіс.

Тепер я живу в Україні. Це така дивовижна країна. Крім Росії, Україна найбільша країна в Європі. Я живу у Львові, - це місто в Західній Україні. Львів - це місто імені сина короля Данила Галицького. Його звали Лев, тому це місто левів, або "Львів".

Я працюю тут в церкві "Нові Обрії" з моїм пастором, Майклом Праттом. Він також з Америки. Дуже мені подобається працювати з ним і тут в Україні. Мені здається, що Бог створив мене щоб я міг бути й працювати тут. Це було моє бажання чотири роки до часу, коли я приїхав сюди.

У своїй церкві я лідер прославлення (лідер гурту прославлення - ми граємо і співаємо в кожну неділю). У нас є репетіції щопонеділка. Я також лідер нашої групи молоді в п'ятницю. Ми збираємося в моїй квартирі на Левандівці, тому що приміщення нашої церкви зараз перетворюють на хостел для Euro 2012. Також я зробив і підтримую наш веб-сайт для церкви. Крім цього, я люблю проводити час з друзями, гуляти і по місті, і в лісі, і в горах, та грати на гітарі.

Я почуваюся тут добре. Іноді, я почуваюся так, ніби це моя рідна країна, але є деякі моменти, коли я сумую за Америкою, друзями там, та сім'єю. Я люблю жити тут - не просто тому, що у мене тут є друзі , і я можу подорожувати, і вивчаю нову мову. Це тому що я бачу, що я живу тут за Божою волею. Без цього у житті немає сенсу. Бог мій добрий Отець, і я хочу іти через життя за Ним.

Timing - God's or Mine?

This is Vesta, Katya's labrador, in the middle of performing a trick for us. She can also count to three, respond to questions, and knows the capitol of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, for those of you that don't know... that's "Bark, Bark!" in dog language). She primarily speaks Ukrainian, but I'm hoping to get her to understand some more English soon.

When she does the trick that's in the picture, Katya places a treat on her nose and tells her "Ne mozhna," or "No, you can't," and waits. You should see it - this dog is the perfect picture of ultimate concentration; she stays completely still. A few seconds later, Katya says, "Mozhna!" and the dog flips the treat up in the air and catches it faster than you can say "hot dog!"

Do you ever feel like this dog? Are you waiting for something? Are you expecting something from God, but He hasn't given it to you yet?

I've been doing my normal read-through-the-Bible-in-about-a-year-or-so devotional plan, like I usually do every year (last time it took me two years to get through the Bible, though... haha...), and I just started 1 Samuel. The book opens with the story of Hannah, a woman in a pretty sad situation. You see, for some reason, her husband, Elkanah, wasn't satisfied with having just one wife. The Bible doesn't tell us which of his wives was his first one... It does say, though, that Penninah was the one that had kids and that Hannah was the one that he loved (in other words... if he married Penninah first, he probably married Hannah 'cause he wanted a prettier wife. If he married Hannah first, he probably married Penninah because he wanted to have kids... either way, he was dissatisfied with what God had given him and decided to sin instead of trusting Him to take care of his needs...).


I feel really bad for Hannah at this point in the story. She probably felt like less than half of a woman. In those days, it was expected that a woman should bear children... It wasn't just her logical progression in life - it was part of her occupation. It was also very disgraceful for a woman to be barran. Hannah couldn't do what she felt like she needed to, and here's why:

"...the LORD had closed her womb."
(1 Samuel 1:5 NASB)

God was the one keeping her from having kids! She may have even felt like it was God's will for her to have children (and it obviously was, as we see later in the chapter), but God was keeping her from that opportunity. He was closing the door to give greater joy, greater glory, and a greater calling.

If God hadn't have done this, I don't believe that Samuel would've been the man of God that he needed to be to save Israel. You guessed it, Samuel was the son that God miraculously allowed her to have after she prayed and asked Him for a child.

Do you know what she did now that she finally had a child, now that she finally had what she wanted from the Lord? Did she hold onto him tightly and never let him out of her sight? Did she raise him up to be a brave and strong young man, cherishing the ability to watch him grow up? No. She dedicated him to the LORD. God gave her a son, and she gave him right back to God.

Then they arose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned again to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, "Because I have asked him of the LORD." Then the man Elkanah went up with all his household to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, " I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD and stay there forever."
(1 Samuel 1:19-22 NASB)

Now, through the suffering that she had experienced, she was ready to give him up for the calling that God had on his life. I'm sure that was a very hard thing to do, but look at the fruit of it! Samuel became one of the mightiest men of God that have walked this earth! God was able to speak directly to him and he would obey, and he was given the opportunity to annoint David, the forerunner and ancestor of the Messiah, to be king of Israel!

I love another principle that I see in these verses. You can always trust God, and you cannot outgive Him.

The LORD visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before the LORD.
(1 Samuel 2:21 NASB)

In other words - God gave Hannah a son, she gave him right back to God, and God gave her even more children. You can trust God with your "investment." If He wants you to do something, He will take care of you while you do it. She didn't ask for more children, but He gave them to her anyway.

So, if you're in a situation with troubles and doors closing around you, expect that God is doing something! Ask Him what He wants you to do so that you can be a part of it! God doesn't want to leave you behind in His plan for your life. Trust Him with the hard things, and trust Him to have His own timing with things!

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:28-39 NASB)

Amen.