Category: Health

My Cup Runneth Over

4/18/2014

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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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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Praying for Healing. Believing in Him.

11/20/2013

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Zoom, Zoom!!

11/11/2013

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Have you ever ran a race? Trained for one? I have and I loved it. You know, I'm not really that competitive either. The fun for me was the motivation, the excitement, and the comradeship as I trained and prepared to reach my goals. It seemed that once I found a group of people all excitedly aiming towards that finish line that I was no longer alone as I worked out and stayed fit. Those few months I felt physically better than I ever have.

Even right now, as I take on the task of writing a novel in month as part of National Novel Writing Month, I have a group of people with the same goals and dreams. We talk about our novels, write each other messages, call each other to check on progress and get each other over obstacles. Once again, this comradeship has gave me motivation and excitement to type closer to my goals. Zoom! Zoom!

Recently, God has powerfully shown me how important fellowship is. This concept I have always shrugged off when it came to my spiritual walk. That is embarrassing to realize, but I always thought that my relationship with God was purely between myself and Him and that involving other people in this aspect of my life was optional. I'm an introvert so this decision was easy to make. I'm refreshed and renewed by time alone so time alone with God made extra sense.

Then, my husband and I came to stay with a friend here in New South Wales. Our friend goes to a tiny church in a very small town and invited us to join him. I enthusiastically agreed. I love the music in church, the worship, the sermons and I figured it would be a nice change from my solitary daily devotionals and listening to KLOVE as I clean the house.

But, my expectations weren't what God had in mind at all. Because when I stepped into that church I experienced something else--something precious and irreplaceable...fellowship. Sitting next to me, greeting my family and I, and singing with heart-felt praise were fellow Christians.

I'd forgotten. With all the traveling we have done and the years of living in isolated areas, I'd forgotten that church is not just the singing and the sermons, church is about comradeship. Being in church is joining a group of people who are excited about God, ready to motivate others, and encourage each other in their walk of faith.

Fellowship. It is so amazingly powerful, so expressively beautiful.

My dad, being a rancher, has a phrase he uses often, "People are herd animals". We are. I'm not saying that we need to be with others. I'm saying that the power of a group of people headed in the same direction is a force to be reckoned with, a force that can change lives.

We only have a few more weeks here and then we'll have to move on and leave this group behind, but the experience has been amazing for me and I know now that having and being part of a church is very important and powerful in our walks with God.

So, from here on out, I intend on seeking out and surrounding myself with those fellow Christians because I know that the motivation and excitement of running a race with others is so much more powerful than ru

Photo by Danielle Walquist Lynch

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Hebrews 12:1

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Miracles Happen Everyday

My Cup Runneth Over

All Things for Good.... Even This

Praying for Healing. Believing in Him.

Zoom, Zoom!!

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