And We Know that All Things Work Together.....

Sometimes it takes a lot of effort for God to get our attention.  We grow so busy "doing His will" that we can't hear His voice.  Then He allows (I believe) a road block to come our way (at times) and we find ourselves slowed.  You never know when a "problem" may turn out to be one of His blessings!

When I began this blog back in January, I did it because my husband suggested I find some constructive way to spend my Mono-confinement.  I am not a "sit around the house" person by nature...or perhaps I am and I just was terribly out of practice.  I was, I must confess, a little angry with the Powers That Be for allowing me to get ill at such a pivetol juncture in my life.  I was nearing the end of a four year push to finish my education degree, my sister's four year battle with pancreatic cancer was taking its toll on her, my inlaw's health was failing...there was so much to do, and I could not do anything but lie around the house.  I was told it was a serious case of mono and I needed to stop everything...so I dropped all my classes for the semester and pouted!  GRRRR.....

I now look back at that bump in the road as a tremendous blessing.  I could have never known that my freedom this semester would be required.  Had I continued with my classes, I would have missed spending the final months of my sister's life with her.  Because I dropped those classes and lightened my schedule, I was free to lie in the bed next to hers and talk; sit in PT with her and keep her company; nap in the bed beside her and just "be there".  No pressure...just "being".

I will always treasure those times we had together during her last weeks on earth.  We never talked over weighty issues and rarely discussed death.  We just enjoyed each others' presence in our comfortable sisterly way. 

So...Thanks, God, for mono...and for giving those special times to me to sustain me through the lonely times.
I will never regret the time You gave me!

Heaven's Perpetual Spring

Recent events have once again turned my attention to Heaven and eternity.  This is not melancholy, or morose, but rather a fascination with the unknown.  Some would venture to say that to attempt anticipation of what the next life would be is foolishness.  Our limited minds cannot possibly comprehend all that God has in store for us.  Still, there are some things that seem logical to me, and until I am proved wrong, I will hold on them with great hope.

I believe that Heaven, for example, is in the state of Perpetual Spring.  Spring to me is the time of renewal and rebirth.  Plants long dormant in the cold of winter (at least in our region) begin to awaken.  The crocus is usually the first to venture forth; pushing leaf and bud up; often from beneath the last remnants of snow.  Trees rouse from their winter's nap almost imperceptibly at first; tiny buds emerge in muted shades of reds and greens.  Suddenly, without realizing it is happening, we are surrounded by the beauty of fresh pale green leaves and flowering trees.  Each day of spring brings new surprises; rebirth, regeneration, new life.

Heaven is surely like the spring.  It is in a state (I choose to believe) of constant renewal, fresh hope, and the realization of great promises.  I imagine that in Heaven nothing grows stale or old, but rather is reborn each moment with vitality and youthfulness.  Though the limited human mind cannot fathom it now, we can look forward to the idea with great joy and anticipation. 

Are you prepared to experience Heaven's Perpetual Spring?  Praise God for the Pathway through His Son!

And a Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven...

I am currently reading Ecclesiastes.  My sister loved that book of the Old Testament, and found many parallels in her own life.  As I often have difficulty deciding where to read during my 144 minutes, I decided that this week it would be appropriate to choose this book again. 

"To everything there is a season
and a time for every purpose under heaven...."

(how many of you included "Turn, turn, turn" after reading that?  You are showing your age!)  :)

Often when we think of the third chapter of Ecclesiastes we think of that famous section that The Byrds made so popular in the 60's. But there is so much more there.

" ¹² I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, ¹³ and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
       ¹⁴ I know that whatever God does,
      It shall be forever.
      Nothing can be added to it,
      And nothing taken from it.
      God does it, that men should fear before Him."
    
It is actually a reminder to us that, though our actions on this earth, when done in our own name, are temporary and will fade away, those things done for God on this earth will endure for eternity. 

What a comforting thought! 

Metamorphosis: A Tribute to Cindy Danks

 

This tribute to my sister includes photographs she took last summer of the monarch butterfly metamorphosis in her butterfly garden.  Cindy has now shed her cocoon and is flying free with Jesus!

Cindy

I am exhausted...both emotionally and physically today.  I have no more creative juices to write cute titles or craft this blog in some unique fashion.  You see, we celebrated yesterday the life of my sister Cindy.  This past week has been grueling; long hospital vigils, emotional last words, funeral preparations, reunions with family and friends from far away...laughter, tears, hugs and kisses.  It has been a full week since I traveled the distance to the University Hospital to be with her...it seems like yesterday...and it seems like months ago.  Time has a strange way of defying our order of things...it passes quick and slow at the same time.

My sister was an amazing woman of God.  She was my friend, my mentor, my adviser, my playmate, my sister, both in genetics and in Christ.  I will miss our Tuesday afternoon luncheon dates; picnics at the lake or in the park, eating Chinese food at our favorite dive, sipping tea under her gazebo, playing Yahtzee and eating jellybeans.  I will miss her quick whit, her blunt honesty, and hearing "Hi, Sister" when I answer the phone.

Sisters cannot be replaced.  The relationship between them cannot be duplicated and I would never try.  I am left, for a season to dwell on the blessings past, and look forward to a heavenly reunion and an eternity of sipping heavenly tea under the canopy of God's love.

Goodbye, sweet Sister!  Thank you for your love; I hope I returned it as fully as it was given.

Waiting,,,,,

I have never been a fan of waiting.  I can do it...and have become quite good at it, but it is not may favorite activity.  I have always felt that waiting wastes time, but I have been reminded (yet again) that this is not necessarily so.  There are times in our lives when waiting is a necessary evil.  The anticipation of a slow cooked roast can be torture as the scent of roasted beef wafts through the house.  Shortening the time, however, provides a less than satisfactory results.  A well brewed cup of coffee is infinitely superior to instant; and the long wait for home-made bread to rise is well worth the effort.

I am reminded today that some things just take time...God's time.  Forcing a bud open before it blooms only destroys the rose; the beauty is lost.  So we wait. 

Today's waiting is in the hospital.  Here in the ICU next to my sister's bed the waiting has been a different experience.  What are we waiting for?  We are not certain...we are waiting for God.  Not that He hasn't arrived...He has been here all along.  We are not waiting on His grace and mercy, for they are boundless; nor are we waiting on His loving arms to reach around us, for they have been holding us up for ever so long.

We are waiting for God to reveal His miracle.  We have already been told it is coming, we just don't know the form in which it will come.  Tonight we trust His perfect will and bask in His grace; His love; His endless, powerful presence. 

I have witnessed His miracles before.  Sometimes they amaze and delight us; other times they arrive in forms we didn't anticipate, or even want.  But they are miracles regardless.  

So we wait...in the center of a peace that passes all understanding.

Still Listening....

I am quite certain I am not alone in the fact that for me talking to God is much easier than listening to God.  I intend to listen and I  try to listen, but often it is hard to distinguish the thoughts inside my head with the voice of God.  When I read scripture, connections and applications come to mind, but I always wonder, "is this my mind roving around, or is it God's voice speaking to me?"  It is an ongoing problem for me.

It is probably no surprise to anyone who knows me that my mind is going in multiple directions at once.  If, as Mark Gungor implies, a woman's brain is a "woman's brain is a big ball of wire...with everything connected to everything," then we have identified the problem.  I am thinking, sorting, conversing and planning in my head all the time.  So, in that chaotic mess, how do I hear God's voice when He is talking to me?

What I would prefer to do at this point in my writing is quote some sage purveyor of wisdom or quote scripture to answer the question posed, but not this time.  I am convinced that the answer is as diverse at the souls who petition God daily.  There is no magic formula for answers to prayer...and sometimes, the answer never seems apparent, though it may have been given.  And sometimes, the answer is "no"...a concept hard for us to understand.

I have quite the laundry list of prayer requests right now.  Some are being answered daily in visible and tangible ways.  Some, for lack of a better explanation, are in progress, though unseen by human perception.  Still others, I am certain, have been answered and I just don't realize it yet....so I keep asking.  And as I ask, I keep listening...keep sorting...keeping waiting for the neon sign to flash in front of me (God doesn't deal in the flashy as a general rule, but it doesn't hurt to ask).