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Stormy Sea

Encouragement

When you are upright and walking you will always have a storm to fight through.  On the ocean, it is the same way.  Every sea captain of any ship both now and in the past probably has at least one if not many stories about making it through stormy seas.  What that might look like to each of them may be completely different.  Each storm might of been different.  One hundred years ago, storms might have meant capsized boats or the death of crew  members and/or captains.  Today, it might mean the risk of hitting shallow waters, rocks or ground.  Either way, the captains have to rely on what they know and their crews  in hopes to get through it.  

Today, life is much of the same.  Several hundreds of miles west of us, people are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, while some of us might be dealing with another type of storm.  We are the captains, who do we have as our crew?  What or who are we going to rely on to get us through?  Is it a deck of tarot cards, crystals, or science?  What about God?  

 Let us just assume that I am the captain and my ship.   I am in one stormy sea after the next.  My storms may not be physical; I am in a storm pertaining to the death of my brother, storm with how people think I should feel, in a storm about dealing with my mom’s needs, in a storm with my physical body, and in a storm pertaining to my immediate family.  Sometimes my storms can get daunting and I lose much sleep over them.  Other times, my storms are tiresome and I can’t get enough sleep.  In each storm I lose much and have to think of ways to get through without what I used to have.  I am sure you have been there, I’m sure some of you might be there now.  Who will you turn to, to get through this storm?  Some people think a crystal or rock will help me get through it.  I have heard people say if I had more money that would help.  My favorite one is that I should eat more to feed my storms.  Pretty sure none of those are going to help me get through them!   My plan isn’t always the easiest, but I believe it is the right one and the ONLY one that will get me through the storms: ask God for strength.  

Throughout the Old and New Testament, the Bible talks about who we should ask for help in times of trouble.

Deuteronomy 31:6 says to be strong and courageous, not to fear because God will be with you.  Isaiah 41:10  speaks about how we should not fear because God is with us and he will strengthen us.  Hebrew 13:6 says that we need to say with confidence how the Lord is our helper.  Luke 12:7 states that God sees you more important than the birds of the air.  

In the interlineal Bible: the old testament is written in the Hebrew, but the words can be translated into, Hebrew, English and Greek.  In Deuteronomy 31:6 the word for ‘Do not’ can be translated in to the Greek word, oopo,  meaning, ‘do not yet’.  This can also mean, ‘wait before’.  The word for courage in the Greek is tolma, meaning, to step into boldness or to boldly believe that God will provide help even in the darkest of times.  

Who will you get to help you through this storm?

 

Strength Continues

Lone Goose

At Christmas break 2023 I realized I was having numbing in my arms and spasms in my shunt.  My head often felt heavier than normal and I found myself getting dizzier more often.  I went to a   neurologist.  He told me that I should realize that I would normally have headaches because I have Chiari so he suggested I get a shot in the back of my head.  I mentioned about doing a MRI because something didn’t seem right.  He told me that he had just seen me and didn’t want to run another MRI because I had seen him in November with headaches.  He was correct on the month but the last time I had seen him was 2022, a year prior and there had been no scans done since that time.  He came back and said the shot to my brain would be the best suggestion for me.  A little while later the pain in my shunt area was getting worse.  I took my husband again and we went to see him.  Again he told me that I needed to get the shot in my head.  When I told him that other people with Chiari told me not to get the shot, it was the worse thing I could do.  He replied, “what would they know?”  I left and went to find another neurologist.   By June I finally met a new one that looked and acted as if she was genuinely concerned with what was going on.  After some MRI scans she said that my Chiari looked fine, but my lower brain seemed swollen and was causing a new syrinx on my upper spine.  I was devastated.  I know that God is always watching me, but this was not news I wanted to hear.  I needed to hear news that everything was fine, that it could be taken care of by medicine or something.  Instead, she sent me back to my neurosurgeon with the hopes that all my problems would go away if they could put my shunt up.  

We found out that just wasn’t the case.  If it went too high it would dry out my brain, too low would cause my brain to fill up with unwanted fluid.  I was devastated.  I had so many questions!  Why couldn’t my problems just be cut and dry.  Why did it have to be complicated.  He ordered an emergency MRI to find out how my CS fluid was flowing in my brain.  He told me that my brain was complicated and some of my symptoms leaned towards the negative thoughts.  Even when I left his office I was weary and tired of having to deal with this again.  I am trying to be strong with the death of my brother and already having physical issues.  Now this!  I am continuously reminded that God is helping me and He will not leave me, nor forsake me.  A friend sent me this verse tonight and he has helped me continue to realize that through anything that happens, God is still here with me.  In everything you face, He is still with you too!

Isaiah49: 15, 16

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!  See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.

 

3 Little Pigs

Teacher’s Heart

One thing that I loved in all the age groups I taught was teaching about the 3 Little Pigs.  As  teacher in public school I wasn’t allowed to teach about God and Christianity as a rule.  However, I got to teach about the 3 Little Pigs and I have to admit, the story may or may not have had a good Biblical moral attached to it.

The little pigs leave their momma and go into the world.  They must learn how to live without her help.  While I am teaching the story in my terms I have the students decide what house would be the best to build.  When they have built their house I take a small fan and see if I can blow it down.  I explain that the fan or the wolf is things they might go through in life and it’s not always about the battle that we face but the outcome that matters.

The first little pig is lazy.  He decides instead of taking too much time building a house and making a ‘good’ life it was just easier to party and hang with his friends.  He goes out and finds straw or dead grass (the students use mini straws) and puts it together with scotch tape to build a house, but he doesn’t bother laying down a foundation.  The wolf comes and blows the house down.  The pig isn’t too worried, he continues to be lazy and decides to go to his brother’s house in the morning.  The second little pig is a little bit better and takes duct tape and sticks to put together a house.  He knows that duct tape holds it all together, or so he hopes.  The little pig decides to go watch movies with his friends and drink some beers to celebrate their friendship.  Again, he has no foundation.  His brother joins him while at a party.  The wolf comes and blows down his house.  The 2nd little pig isn’t too worried, he decides that his brother and him can go get some duct tape in the morning and patch it all back up.  The 3rd little pig is smart!  He loves to build things and lays down a foundation on some rock, levels it out then lays down bricks and mortar (the kids use Legos) to build a cute little house for him.  After several days he is finished and he makes himself furniture and a place to cook his food in the fireplace.  The wolf comes and he tries with all his might to blow down that house, but nothing works.  The 3rd little pig knows that his foundation is strong and he is thankful and rests in the idea that tomorrow, he will continue to be safe.

The 3rd little pig listened to what his momma told him and he lived happily ever after.

Luke 6: 48, 49

 

Healing

Lone Goose

What is healing to you?  Do you believe that to be healed every body part works right, no one dies, it’s all good?  In 1998 I was told that I had 3 months to live.  I went through all the steps to get myself ready to ‘die’.  Even though I fully believed that God had orchestrated everything at the time and all that I was going through was of Him.  I still felt that God could heal me by taking me home or He would heal me in His way on earth.  Later, I learned that His plan wasn’t for me, it was for someone else to find Him and realize that He existed.  

It would have been just fine for God to come down and heal my brother from his injuries, and we would have been happy about that too.  However, it wasn’t that God didn’t heal him, He just didn’t do it the way we had hoped.  The victory was already won, Brian was healed the moment his Earthly body died.  I believe that God could have healed him on earth, but it was time for Brian to go home.  In recent weeks he spoke to me about getting to ‘dwell in the house of the Lord forever’ and ‘run in the green grass’.  He was ready, he knew where he was going.  Satan may have thought he had won, but Brian went to see His Jesus and he was healed.  Did someone die that you thought should have been healed?  If they were saved, they were healed.  I have learned to believe that my daughter was healed and she resides in heaven with so many people that have gone before me.  They have all been healed by the power of Jesus.  Do I wish they were here?  Oh yes!  

People ask me why I believe.  I believe because God has already healed me!  He has healed my mind, He has healed my spirit and yes, He has healed my body.   There are quite a few things I can no longer do, but there is plenty that because of Jesus I can do!  I get to see things from perspectives that most people don’t.  I get to learn things because of my disabilities and I learn them in ways I would have never understood before.  Is it annoying…sometimes, oh yes!  Do  I complain?  Yes, probably more then I should.  When I get to Heaven I know that God will have healed me fully, for now, my healing is from the Lord and I praise Him for it!