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Permission to Hug

4/30/2014

It happened all day long. My little girl would stop playing, come find me and lift up her arms. Her toddler babble informed me that she wanted a hug, but with my twins in my tummy taking up all my lap space I couldn't hardly lift her up for a cuddle. She didn't mind. I would sit on the floor or invite her up to the couch with me and she'd fall across into my arms in just a way that we were both comfortable. And she stayed and stayed.

Of course, my mind would race with worries. Is she sick? Why isn't she playing? Should I be doing this? Am I spoiling her?

Oh, but in my heart of hearts I knew a great truth--she needed this. She needed to be held, to be hugged and kissed, and reassured for whatever reason. And each time I held her I knew by the way my shoulders relaxed and my eyes closed blissfully, that I needed it too. Holding her felt so right, a balm for my hurts and for whatever she feels she is missing these days.

I forget her life has taken a tumble too. I've been sick, I've left her with her grandparents for a whole fortnight. When I got her back she was enrolled in daycare and I have to let others do most things for her such as bathe, dress, and cook for her. When she comes to my arms I can feel that her natural instinct is to find that reassurance. And, as her mother, that is probably one of my favorite jobs.

I know that as parents we worry about spoiling our children. We want to guide them to independence, good manners, and respect for others. It is a tough, tough job. But I also know that just as in every other aspect of our lives, the Holy Spirit guides us in how we take care of these little souls entrusted to us. So often I pray, God, am I doing right by my daughter? Is this the way? And if I listen to His voice I know the answer. Yes, parenthood is a road full of discipline, providing good examples, and making sure our children are prepared to succeed in this world. But parenthood is first and foremost an act of love. Everything we do for them, from time-outs to putting an extra half-cookie on their plates, is something we do out of an unconditional love.

Therefore, yes, I have permission to cuddle, hold, and reassure my daughter as much as her heart desires. Who knows, maybe she needs a few days of this to feel steady again on her feet. It is one of the few things I can do for her and I'm so thankful to have a precious daughter to fill my aching arms these days.

Love is patient. Love is kind.
1 Corinthians 13:4

Photo by familymwr via flickr

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The Expert Grumbler

4/24/2014

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Each one of us is an expert grumbler, a professional complainer, a bonafide pessimist. We're so good at it that we can spill forth those negative words and complaints without having to give it a second thought. We're so adept at throwing around our misfortunes that we can do it without thinking, looking at life through muddy lenses instead of rose-colored glasses. It is just so natural.

And it is ridiculously sad.

I'm so guilty of this. Ask me three months ago what my ideal day would be and I would have told you that I would love an entire day in bed to read, write, and nap to my heart's contentment. Then came the doctor's orders: Bed rest and I'm upset at my predicament. I have been given the order to rest until the babies come and I feel like I'm in prison.

Oh, Lora, you are such a child still. God has so much pruning to do of your heart and soul.

And I can't spend dozens of weeks viewing my life like this. I can't be constantly looking at my life and feeling useless and scared. I can't. I won't. Because as Christians we are more than conquerors.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Romans 8:37

We are to be more than conquers in whatever situation God places us. That means we are not just to survive, but to work with God to turn it all into examples of beauty and growth.

After praying about my grumbling attitude this morning I took a deep breath and decided to conquer and rise above the predicament life has placed me in. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop following doctor's orders. No, it means that I am going to grow with this and let it all begin to show God's blessings. No more grumbling. Time to practice a different skill--praise, thankfullness, adoration.

Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves."
John 6:43

In what situation have you become an expert grumbler? Have you a job that seems to get under you skin? Are your children going through a difficult phase and you just want them older? Have you been injured or fallen sick and pain and inconvenience threaten to steal your happiness? Perhaps you've lost a relationship and life feels low and sad. I challenge you to be more than a conqueror. Don't just survive. Let your heart and life move you beyond disappointment so you can see how beautiful are God's blessings.

Photo by CGP Grey

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My Cup Runneth Over

4/18/2014

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Everyone STOP. Please, right where you are, just pause, and take a moment to celebrate with me. Today is so beautiful. It is Springtime and the world is full with the promise of life. I can feel two baby girls move within me and today was the first time the doctors have been so hopeful, so excited about my little ones' change and growth. God is so GOOD.

But what made this moment so much bigger for me was when I realized it was Good Friday. Today I also celebrate the most precious gift of all--forgiveness. Forgiveness that allows me into the presences of God and fills my very being with the Holy Spirit.

The sun shines so brightly today and I smile with it. And the Psalms I learned as a child dances through my heart.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Psalm 23

Oh, yes! I have everything I need in my relationship with God. Whatever blessings of children, health, and family my Heavenly Father blesses me with is simply extra beauty to be gathered in my life. How beautiful is His love for us, His children.

And it is because of Jesus that we have this to claim, that we can pray to Him, talk to Him, and feel the answers to our hurt and heartache through the peace that reigns through our soul.

I hope you take a moment to celebrate. We all have so much to thank God for. Happy Good Friday and Happy Easter to you all!

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

John 6:35

Photo by D Sharon Pruitt via Flickr

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God is a Hard Taskmaster

4/16/2014

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God, help me to not worry. Show me how I can learn and grow. Teach me to rely on You. Help me strengthen my faith.

I've prayed that prayer thousands of times over the years. I've been a professional worrier since I could toddle. So concerned with the "what ifs" of life I had ulcers around the time I was ten years old.

And as I grew up I realized how great a sin worry is and how desperately my heart needed to be purged of such unfaithful habits.

Slowly, but surely, I did start to change, started to change habits of worry into habits of faith. But, I am still very good at over-planning, over-thinking, over-analyzing problems to the point that I can make myself sick. And with my imagination I don't just consider possibilities, sometimes I even live through them in my head. I can imagine a situation in such detail that I'll be in tears over something that hasn't and might not ever, happen.

Worry is the crack in which the devil hurts me the deepest.

And, I kept praying and praying for God to show me how to change, how to shield my heart and mind against the attacks that I keep inviting into my life.

Well, God is truly a hard taskmaster. I am now getting moment-by-moment lessons on faith. Every second the reality of possibly losing my unborn babies is thrust before me and yet there is still hope that several weeks from now I might hold two healthy baby girls in my arms.

I cannot live but to focus only on what today brings me and not live in fear of what tomorrow might hold. Prayers constantly cross my lips, heart, and mind and a habit that I once thought impossible to learn has now become a necessity for survival. As Jesus said, I must not "worry about tomorrow for today has enough worries of its own." God is teaching me how to live for today and have faith that he will get me through all tomorrow will bring.

I love my Teacher. He has taken a firm hand in making sure I learn and grow. He has listened to my pleas and daily teaches me lessons that strengthen my faith.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."
Matthew 7:7

Photo by Leland Francisco via Flickr

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Inspired by a Young Author

4/15/2014

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A young woman recently contacted me, wanting to share her story on my miracles blog. Her life-story is beautiful. She had a rare sickness as a child and grew up with a strong Christian faith as she dealt with things that some adults would have trouble surviving. I asked her to write her story and introduce herself on my blog. I look forward to reading the Christian Fantasy Novel that she has published and am blessed to meet another Christian sister.

              I Prayed for the Words.
                    By E.J. Norris

I begin telling this tale by saying that we serve an incredible God; he who the mountains obey and he who parts seas is very much alive in all of us. Every day I praise him for all he has done for me.

When I was about ten years old, happy and carefree, my family and I were startled by the symptoms of a rare medical condition. On the night of the occurrence I was playing happily when suddenly my mouth filled with blood. Terrified and frantic, I rushed to the bathroom and spat into the sink, staining the pearl white red. But more blood gushed out faster than I could spit. My sister ran for my mother who was a trained nurse and managed to hurriedly stifle the bleeding. After she had calmed me she and my father got me into the car and we drove off into the night. I recall that we sang all the way to the emergency room,

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice,

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice,

Rejoice! Rejoice! Again I say rejoice,

Rejoice! Rejoice! Again I say rejoice!

Once surrounded by the white walls of the doctor’s office I was examined by the doctor on call at the time. We explained to him the stunning events of the evening and he was just as puzzled.

        “I can see she bled.” he said. Indeed it was obvious because of the stains left on my shirt. “But I can’t see anything wrong.”

There was no reason to keep me there so we returned home and I, in my child-like mind, was content to forget it. But my mother was not. After all, one doesn’t begin bleeding profusely just because. In our family, God is at the head and she prayed. She received a single, clear answer, “Call the dentist.”

She called my dentist and he said,

        “If it happens again, bring her in. We’ll leave the office open for you.”

Sure enough, what I was content to forget happened yet again. It was a winter evening, as the first incident had been, and I was eating dinner when that same ominous taste came. The second bleed was not as dramatic as the first, but just as troubling. We dropped everything and off to the dentist we went. I expected to sit and wait for awhile like we had in the emergency room, but we were ushered in immediately. X-rays were taken and the dentist looked, observing a shadowed area beneath my molars on the lower right side. Praise God that he realized that this mysterious ailment was beyond his expertise! He put up his hands and said,

“I’m not touching her. I’m sending you to an oral surgeon.”

I was listening, uncomprehending. Oral Surgeon? What’s that?

        It was another waiting room, another office, and another doctor to try and decipher the strange problem. But I know God brought us there because when he examined my case he was stunned and exclaimed that he had just finished a book on this subject that very day! Then, for the first time, the ailment had a name: Arterial Venous Malformation. For treatment he sent us to the expert, the author of the book, in Boston, Massachusetts. That began a cycle of treatment during which I leaned on the Lord as I continued going through school and coping.

        Then came the summer of 2011, the summer before my junior year of high school, I began seeking what the good Lord meant for me to do. I wasn’t sure. Others around me were planning for college and prosperous careers. At that point my greatest love was writing. It was such fun to invent worlds and people and that summer I wondered what would happen if I let God take hold of my pen. What if I prayed for the words? So, I prayed saying,

        “Lord, the pen is yours. What do you want me to do?”

When God leads amazing things happen and within just a few days a Christian based plot came to mind with a fire unlike any story that came before it. After two or three tries at a beginning it came to life on the pages of a large, black journal and it flowed as easily as water. Nothing slowed its progress and it was encouragement and help in my healing as the condition continued. While recovering from a surgery, rather than being

swallowed by my circumstances I waited in anticipation for the anesthesia induced fog in my head to clear. Every morning I would say to myself,

“I wonder if I’ll be able to write today.”

Now, as of April 1rst 2014, that story, The Mirror and The Sword is officially a published novel. How it has grown amazes me! I am nineteen years old and an author! The story continues, for The Mirror and The Sword is just the beginning.

        In sharing this with the world around me it’s my hope that God uses it to touch the lives of all who travel through its pages and if any doubts come to my mind about the future I will try to have faith like a mustard seed and keep in mind my favorite verse.

         “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

                                                  Philippians 4:13

                          God bless you all and keep a smile on.

                                                                                 E.J. Norris

Biography

E.J. Norris was born on July 16, 1994 in Blue Hill, Maine. While hop-skipping between home school, Calvary Chapel Christian School, and Bangor High School, writing evolved from a mere hobby to an obsession. It was inspired by personal beliefs and a struggle through complex medical problems. Through its publication, the author hopes that the adventures of Tenny and Anna will encourage others through difficult times. E.J. currently resides in Orrington, Maine.

Find her book at
https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-62902-118-8

Or Click on the link below to buy a paperback copy from Amazon.

The Mirror and the Sword

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All Things for Good.... Even This

4/11/2014

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Use it all God. Every hurt, Every heartbeat. I give it all to you. You use all things for good. Use me.

As I pray those words I can feel it, like a spring bulb emerging from the soil, life is coming out of the coldness and promising beauty.

Right now, my life is in a tender season where every hurt is deep and hard and every joy is brilliant as the sun.

God, in His great wisdom, has given me identical twin girls who now a battle a rare sickness before they are even born. And this has thrown my world upside-down. I left my husband in Russia to see the amazing medical professionals here in the United States. I left my daughter with my mother-in-law while I underwent surgery this week. I lie in bed now trying not to let every worry and doubt shatter my faith into pieces.

But, with every breath, I feel strength of a new and amazing kind burn within me. God is taking me to new heights, burning away the old and replacing it with a new kind of love and power that comes from Him.

And everywhere I look I start to see the changes and am amazed. I am closer to my mother-in-law, loving and appreciating her undaunted insistence to care for her family. I see and admire the strength and love of my sister who has taken me in to care for me even as she juggles her own full life. I thank God daily for the courage and trust of my husband who always knows just what to say to take away my worries and encourage me and I can feel his loving arms around me even though we are oceans apart.

Even when I had to go to Houston for surgery and every moment was a challenge just to remember to focus and breathe and pray, I was blessed with physicians, surgeons, and nurses who cared enough to hold my hand and even hug me in the hard moments. And my brother-in-law who has no experience with pregnancies and babies, took time off of work so that he could see me though the procedure, make me laugh in the hospital, and see me safely back home again.

I can see God smiling at me through every crack in this topsy-turvey world. His love shines out at me through a thousand souls who pray for us, hug us, love us, and offer a helping hand.

So, God, let me not see this as a time of pity, but a time for your power. Use it all for Your great good. I give it all to you.

Photo by Fountain_Head via Flikr

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Miracles Happen Everyday

Permission to Hug

The Expert Grumbler

My Cup Runneth Over

God is a Hard Taskmaster

Inspired by a Young Author

All Things for Good.... Even This

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