Happy Mother's Day!

I am so blessed.  I have been blessed with a wonderful mother and am so thankful to still have one wonderful grandmother.  I grew up with a lot of grandparents and great grandparents.  They had brothers and sisters, so I also had lots of great aunts and uncles and great greats!  They all loved me.  While I did not realize how fortunate I was to almost have too many places to go on Christmas Eve, I sure was.  As they started dying, their loss was felt more and more; and I was so glad I took time to go to family reunions and had to when I was little!  It makes you understand yourself a little more, I think, when you see others acting like you - sometimes good and sometimes not so good!  But it was always entertaining and filled with fun. 

So tomorrow is Mother's Day, and I am so thankful for my mom and my grandmother and all of the others I have to help me through this journey.  I have an aunt who is like a second mom.  I have friends who are like second moms and have had to fill in from time to time with words of wisdom.  God has given me so much and so many to help me.  Sometimes we don't listen to the obvious people, and God is gracious enough to send others to get through!

When I was growing up, I knew my mom was the smartest person I knew.  She could help us with school work and with our projects.  She could make clothes for us and decorate our rooms better than any DIY network show.  She could work inside and outside the house.  She was thoughtful and took care of many people in many different ways.  She helped us with our spiritual walks and was honest with us so we would learn lessons that we would need.  My dad worked hard - six days a week for most of my childhood - so my mom made sure we were taken care of and that we had what we needed when we needed it!

When I was older, I remember talking to my mom one day and she was telling me she probably was not going to an activity she always enjoyed.  She told me things had been "different" or funny, but she did not know why.  That was the beginning of the end of her time at the church where we all grew up, got baptized, got married, held funerals, and had a huge family.  That time was the toughest my mom ever went through.  I remember she asked people what was wrong, and they would not tell her.  It was unbelievable how she was treated by people she had known for years.  It was almost like an Amish shunning.  To this day, she still does not know who stirred up what against her.  No one would tell her even what it was all about.  I harbor a tiny bit of bitterness there still that pops up when I see certain people acting as though they are working for the Lord.  I know they were involved and never have gone to her and settled things.  But I have to remember that I have probably unwittingly been a part of the devil's work at times too, so I try to not let it take root.  It was a hurtful time, and I am thankful it did not do more damage to her physically than it did.  My mom was diagnosed with MS in early 1996.

After weeks and weeks of hurt, my parents began attending a church where the pastor we had had at their previous church was an interim.  They have worked in that church and found lots more families to love and support and have gotten a tremendous outpouring of love and support.  I know God works things together for good.  Sometimes the journey seems as though it may kill us and that we will never recover, but He is always faithful and will never leave us.

Joni Eareckson Tada had a devotional that reminded us what we do to people may not be seen by them, but it is ALL seen by God.  So we are to watch what we do, and we should be assured that He sees all and will help us through what others seek to do against us.  That is comforting - for He is the One Who loves us the most.  I think knowing that got my mom through those dark days when she lost so many.

But then others were there who had been there before.  And they have always been and continue to be faithful friends who believe in the same One and want to work for Him and not their own selfish desires.

My mom is not perfect, but she is an example of the Lord living through her.  And she always points us, her children, to Him - not herself or what she thinks.  She shares things she has learned and is still learning, so we will be quickly reminded of the perspective we should have or strive for.

Happy Mother's Day to my mother.  She is an encourager, a supporter, a prayer warrior, a hard worker, a great example, a beautiful person, the most thoughtful person I know, a great seamstress, a great cleaner, the best chocolate cake baker, and so many other things.  But the most important job God gave her on this earth while serving Him was to be our mom.  We are so glad He gave her to us!

May 2 ~ 2012 & 2013

I wrote this email earlier today before we went to the neurologist.  We increased Andrew's new (old drug he took 2-6 grade) and will decrease the other main one until he is off of it in 5 weeks!  Please pray for his liver and for the medicine to work as well as it did before.

I thank God that He worked in the way He did last year.  And I thank Him that he brought it straight to my attention today in my Beth Moore book.

We are having Scooby Doo weather here today (misty and foggy).  Will has a mountain bike race, so we hope to end this day well!   Thanks!

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This is the National Day of Prayer in our country - in case you did not know or remember!  I am reminding you, because I would rather be reminded now than late at night when I finally hear something about it on TV.

Today, as I opened my Beth Moore devotional for May 2, I saw something I had written last year.  The heading on the page is "When was the last time you felt like everything in your life was quaking except your stability in Christ?"  It talks about Abraham and being willing to follow in obedience and asking for guidance - even when we don't know where we are going or we don't understand.  It refers to the promises in Isaiah that God will satisfy our needs and strengthen us.  We can lean on His power - which has everything we need "for life and godliness."

Anyway, what I scribbled was "Andrew - seizure May 1 - pm.  Won 3200 conference May 2, 2012."  I remember Pete hesitating with the Diastat, knowing if he gave it to him, Andrew probably could not run his meet the next day.  And we both knew how hard he had worked and how badly he wanted to run.  But then we both said if something happened to him, he could not run anyway.  There should have been no way that Andrew could run the next day.  He could not even get up the next morning!  But he did, and he got to school in time to make himself eligible to run later that day.  He sat in a chair near me and drank Gatorade and water all day at the meet at Lenoir Rhyne.  And then he ran - the next to the last event.  I watched (in turn 4) and prayed and prayed as he went around that track.  Only a few others there knew what he had been through, and they were praying too.  He was so far ahead, but I was not sure he could run the whole way.  I had seen what his body had gone through the night before and knew the effects of his medication were still in him.  But he ran the whole way, and he won.

You know sometimes we need to feel that "pat on the back" from God?  I got one that day.  And He has given me many others.  I just need to be "still" enough to feel them and recognize them.  

So I wanted to share.  And you know it is not about the running or the winning - but about the bigger plan and Who is in control.  Because you know there are many other days that do not have this ending - especially for Andrew.  God's timing is perfect.

Thanks to all of you who help us in so many ways!

National Day of Prayer

Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer.  While I am so thankful we still have it in our country (and we certainly should!!!), I have read articles that make it seem like some people want "politically correct" prayers being prayed in Washington.  I don't know if it's true, but it caused my heart to hurt.

After all, we are praying to God.  He is the One we should be trying to please.  When we ask ourselves "What would Jesus do?", we should look in the Bible to see what Jesus would do.  If we are not sure, we should err on doing the best right thing we can after praying about it.  We should not look to ourselves for that answer, but to God.  When we look to ourselves, we find our own agendas, our pride, our flawed perspectives, etc.  When we look to God, things become clearer.  They won't always be totally clear here on this earth, but looking to God and asking what He would want us to do sure helps us make better decisions.

Making better decisions will not allow as much compromise.  Looking to God will keep us from voting for things that are clearly wrong in the Bible.

We should not confuse loving one another with loving and accepting all that people do.  If I hated sinners, I would have to hate myself first.  I sin.  I have to ask forgiveness.  I get up and keep trying.  I do this constantly.  But I know that justifying what I do (when I sin) by making other people accepting of it has nothing to do with right or wrong with God.  Sin is sin.  Wrong is wrong.  It does not matter who does it, who supports it, or who accepts it!  I must look to God.  He is the One I care about pleasing.  He is the One  Who sent His precious Son for me!  No one else did that .  No one else could do that!

Do I compromise?  I do all of the time.  I don't want to step on toes or hurt feelings.

Do I ride the fence?  I am sure I do more than I realize.

But I know what is clear to me.  I will not vote for abortion or those who wish to keep it legal.  I read an article today about a doctor on trial for late term abortions.  The babies would have lived if he had not killed them as they were born.  Have you ever seen a newborn baby?  Would you be outraged if you saw someone kill a newborn baby right in front of you?  Would it hurt?  Would it be awful?  Why is it okay to kill babies in a hospital or clinic?  Why?  Is our country that "off" that we just seem to accept it?  If someone has an abortion, are they happy they had one?  Do they live their lives in blissful peace?  If I did something and really did not realize the consequences, why would it haunt me afterwards?  Maybe because it was wrong?  And we have a loving and forgiving God.  But we must ask for forgiveness.  I am so thankful He wants us to ask, and He does forgive.

I am so disappointed our President and other leaders have come out supporting gay marriage.  I don't want a  President who does not seem to mind that he is supporting what the Bible says clearly is wrong.  I respect our President, but I won't vote for him.  I don't like him.  I wish his term was up.  Maybe some can overlook this because of the economy.  What is more important?  Looking to see if Jesus would support something like this or our economy.  Maybe our economy is a reflection of our country's direction.  And that direction scares me.

But then I remember Who is in control.  I remember to Whom I will answer and do answer to today.  I can call upon Him, and He is there.  None of the others are.  None of them can help me.  None of them died to give me eternal life.  But Jesus did.  And He will stand beside me on judgment day.  The least I can do is stand for Him while I am still here!

So tomorrow, I will pray for my country.  I will pray for the wavering hearts, the lazy hearts, the bad hearts, and all of the others.  I will pray for the ones who want us to look to God to stand strong and not be caught off course, derailed by the devil himself.  I will pray for myself - for guidance and wisdom and to know when to take a stand and when to not be silent.  I will pray to be brave and to sacrifice and be more willing to share what God has done and can do.  We all need to start looking up and stop being derailed.

Have you seen "The Passion of the Christ"?  How could you watch that movie as a believer and not feel what Jesus did for us?  And all we have to do is accept His gift of eternal life.  And if we accept it, we should want to stand for Him.

And do you know what happened to Mel Gibson after he spent so much time and money on that film?  I firmly, very firmly, believe that the devil was after him and caused him to fall and fail in so many ways.  I believe he was attacked, so he could not do more than he did to spread the good news.  I have prayed for Mel Gibson.  He may still be living a relatively normal life if he had not stepped out and given us this gift of a movie about our Lord.

It's okay not to be popular.  It's okay to feel lonely sometimes.  It is nothing compared to what Jesus felt on this earth.  It's okay to stand up.  But if I stand up in God's name, I had better be looking at Him and not my own agendas and pride.  That means being firm and unwavering, but it also means standing because the root of the stance is love.  I love my country.  I love the people who disagree with me.  (Although sometimes I don't like them.)

PRAY.  Pray to the One Who loves us the most.  He will give us the direction we need.