Word weaver.  Paint slinger.  Grace clinger.  Sunset gazer.  Pixel tamer.  Dream wrangler.  Born with multiple birth defects requiring 23 surgeries by age 13, Michele is no stranger to seeming impossibilities.  Or to God’s relentless Love and His ability to overcome them.  She has been privileged to spend much of her adult life in some of earth’s poorest and most broken places in India and Africa watching God transform them one life, one family, one community at a time.  

Michele’s first book Love Has A Face tells stories and lessons learned from her first two years pioneering the work she started with Iris Ministries in South Sudan.  Her second book, An Invitation to the Supernatural Life, was just released in July 2012.  She writes of her ongoing journey at fromtheunpavedroad.com and you can capture a fuller snapshot of her world over at micheleperry.me.  She really, really hopes to see you there!

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A few years ago, during the dry season in South Sudan when the wind blew the dust hard and there was no rain for months. The vegetables withered and faded and the diet with them.  Soon we were eating only maize and beans every meal.  It was the time I ate only green powder and protein powder for months on end because my body does not tolerate maize.

Suffice it to say it was not ideal, but there was some amazing grace.

About two months into that season, I began to pray a little more fervently, “Papa, we need a solution.  Not just for me, but a way to get nutrition into the diet of our children.  You have the answers!”

Living supernaturally is absolutely practical. And not just in Africa.

A few more weeks went by.  One day we had a visitor who worked in agriculture visit our compound.  I shared with her my concerns.  Her face lit up.  “Do you know what is growing on your land?” she asked. Obviously I didn’t.  I was a city girl who had never even planted a seed before moving to Africa.

She walked me over to trees that had newly sprung up since we had started praying several weeks before.  She introduced me to the moringa tree that is known for its incredible nutritional density and drought resistance.

Tears came to my eyes as I realized I was looking right at a green leafy miracle.  I had walked past it completely unaware it was God’s answer to our prayers, totally oblivious to the supernatural provision of heaven in our midst.

A number of times, God had multiplied the small amounts of food we did have to feed many more people than it should have been able to. Now He caused trees to grow on our land whose leaves had nutrition that would help our children and community become healthy.

I stood there, speech struck right out of me.  So many times God is moving to answer our prayers in ways we do not yet see.

God delights to give us everyday miracles born in stables and take us on star-led journeys to discover His promises.

The most supernatural moments are not always the most extraordinary ones. Some days they are wrapped in simplicity, hidden in swaddling clothes and born in unexpected places.

We just have to have eyes to see them.

Dear friend, you reading these scribbled words, you are created to live out an amazing love adventure with Jesus.  You are the reason I put pen to paper and splash my heart on a page.

You don’t ever have to feel like you are on the outside looking in again.  You are invited into your own journey, your own epic romance with the King of Kings Who holds seven stars in His hands and all our dislocated pieces too.

Yes, you right there with wide eyes and hungry heart and a messy kitchen floor. Crumbs and all, you are invited… not to observe someone else’s adventure, but to embrace your own.

It would be my joy to journey with you and offer some practical encouragement on things like:

• How to find stillness…
• Hearing God’s voice…
• What it’s like to have a vision…
• “I think God spoke to me, now what do I do…”
• What to do in the dry times…

You are not alone.  You are cherished, chosen and deeply loved.

His, and yours–

Michele, From The Unpaved Road

{Would you like a sneak peek?  I thought you might!  You can download Chapter 1 from the kind folks at Chosen Books.  Watch the book trailer.  Come back tomorrow for an exciting giveaway… In the meanwhile, take a look at some of the endorsements and more information, and why don’t you drop by the comment section below and say hi too. I’d sure love to hear from you! I’d particularly like to hear any questions you might have on hearing God’s voice, prayer or going deeper with Him.  I’ll be hanging around and would love to hear your heart.}

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