Tag Archives: faith

In the Garden

10 Wednesday May 2023

Posted by in hymns

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I come to the garden alone . . .

In the Garden was Daddy’s favorite hymn. It was played at his funeral thirty years ago, and I still can’t sing it through without weeping. It brings tears because of what I believe it meant to Daddy personally.

My father was a very private man, not one to share his thoughts and feelings. He dealt with his concerns alone with the Lord. That’s where he sought and found strength and direction.

Daddy’s parents died of tuberculosis when he was four. His sister, the oldest of six children, died trying to keep the family together. Minnie Lee was twenty-six when she died of the same disease. Daddy was twelve. It fell to the oldest brother and his wife to keep the family intact.

When just eighteen, Daddy married my mother, who was fifteen. In those early years, Daddy worked as a sharecropper, a church custodian, and a garage mechanic. Whatever was available.

My mother’s parents took Daddy in the year before my parents married. My grandmother said people just did that then. When someone needed a home and you could provide, you took them in, you didn’t go through a formal adoption process. Mother’s parents became the only parents that Daddy remembered and he never failed to respect and honor what they did for him.

I was just six months old when Daddy enlisted in the Army. He came back an injured World War II veteran. He spent two hospitalizations in a VA hospital due to his injuries, yet would never accept the compensation due him. There were times we could have used the aid, but Daddy held his ground about not accepting money for serving his country when he was able to work. Only the Lord knows why.

As far as I know, there were only two things Daddy ever spoke about regarding the war and that was to Mother. He told her the scars around his waist were from rat bites while in a foxhole. It took her a year to get that information. The other thing was his promise to God that if He would let him come home to his family, he would spend the rest of his life taking care of others. He fulfilled that promise and it was only after his death that we knew much of what he had quietly done to help others.

Daddy was mayor of our small town for twelve years, and also a sheriff’s deputy. He had a total of thirty-five years in law enforcement. From time to time, his dedication to service brought its challenges. Someone burned a cross in our front yard once. Another person tacked up posters right before an election attacking Daddy’s integrity. When he walked me down the aisle to marry, his arm was in a cast, broken while arresting someone for domestic violence.

In my growing up years, our needs were certainly provided for, but there were no extravagances. I remember at least two store robberies. Then, due to his second VA hospitalization, he had to forfeit his small business and re-mortgage our house. Eventually, all was recovered and things improved for my parents financially. For that, I am very grateful.

When I hear In the Garden, I reflect on all the walks and talks with God Daddy must surely have had. About the pain he endured: physical, mental, emotional. The times he struggled to provide for a family of five while proudly, and I believe foolishly, refusing any help from the nation he fought for. All the times he sought guidance when he didn’t know what to do next. All the times he asked for strength to do what he believed was right. I suspect those garden walks started early when he was a little orphaned boy, frightened and confused.

Daddy, along with Mother, is buried in the cemetery at the church, where he was saved and baptized as a young man. You step out the back door of the still active country church, and there you are – in a beautifully tended garden. I can’t think of a more fitting resting place. Someday that garden will be my resting place, too.

And He walks with me and He talks with me. And He tells me I am his own . . .

The hymn, In the Garden, was written in 1912 by C. Austin Miles. Daddy was born in 1916. Perhaps he had known this song all his life, maybe the first hymn he remembered. I wish I had thought to ask.

Hearing God, Receiving by Faith

21 Tuesday Mar 2023

Posted by in miracles

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I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith.

–John 16:1 NLT

I believe I have blogged about my daughter’s healing from scoliosis in earlier years. I am feeling strongly to write about it again, perhaps providing more detail than previously.

Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine. Double scoliosis is when the curve is both in the upper and lower parts. The spine becomes “S” shaped. That is the kind my daughter developed.

When Kristi was in junior high, she was referred to an orthopedic physician by our family doctor. She appeared to have an abnormal curvature of her spine. The ortho doc x-rayed and said it was very mild scoliosis and he believed it was nothing to be concerned about.

We went back for a routine follow-up some months later and this time the orthopedic physician was concerned. Very. He said there had been a dramatic increase in the curvature and he wanted Kristi to be seen by a specialist in another city.

My daughter was almost 14. Girls are so conscious of their bodies at that age. She was devastated. She didn’t want to see more doctors and have more examinations and pleaded with me to not take her to another doctor. I was working for a family practice physician at the time and I knew the treatment available then. It would most likely mean a body cast, so I was also devastated.

I’ve had faith for as long as I can remember. However, what I was about to hear from God took a bolder step than I had ever experienced. It came the next morning during Bible study.

I was reading about the people of faith in Hebrews 11. Not in an audible voice, but strong just the same, I heard God say I was to give this matter to Him and not see a specialist. It was so strong I wrote this at the top margin of my Bible: It is in faith that I ask that Kristi’s back be made straight again – that scoliosis will totally disappear so that there can be no misunderstanding that God interceded and healed with divine power. The date was 12-27-78.

Each day I prayed about Kristi’s back. Some days I would let my eyes fall on her back as she walked away from me, and my breath would catch. I would ask myself if I was doing the right thing by not having her seen by a specialist. Yet, I knew that I had heard God speak. I kept on praying and believing.  

It was three and a half years later before I heard God speak again about Kristi’s back. It happened one morning as I had taken about three steps from my kneeling posture. (Yes, I pray all the hard battles on my knees; my grandmother taught me that.) I remember how I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard the whisper you forgot something. I asked what, and heard you forgot to pray about Kristi’s back. I went back to prayer posture and before I could say a word, God spoke again. Kristi’s back is healed.

I was overwhelmed with joy! It seemed the sun shot through the room with major intensity. That whole experience is burned in my mind and heart forever!

After very emotionally thanking God for His answer to prayer, I went straight to the telephone to make an appointment with the ortho doc who had diagnosed her. I didn’t doubt the healing, but now it was time to gather proof for testimony.

I called for an appointment and learned Dr. Johnson was out of the country on a mission trip. His office made an appointment for us with the physician covering for him at another location. I was to pick up her x-rays and take them with us.

When Kristi was diagnosed, I had not been shown the x-rays, which was common practice back then. I got home with the manila envelope of spine x-rays, opened it, and held them up to the window for viewing. I was not prepared for what I saw. There was a very strong “S” curvature of her spine. My first thought was what have I done to my child?! But that thought was immediately washed away by I have done what the Lord told me to do and I’m still trusting. I didn’t show them to my daughter.

The day of the appointment came to see the covering orthopedic physician. On examining Kristi, he said he saw no evidence of scoliosis but would do an x-ray. After a short wait, he came to the room and motioned for us to follow. He pointed to the screen where both x-rays were up. On the left was the x-ray that brought on the diagnosis and referral. On the right was that morning’s x-ray. There was no scoliosis!

I asked the physician how he explained it. He said he couldn’t. I responded that I could. God answered my prayers. He simply looked at the x-rays and didn’t comment.

On 6-11-81, I wrote alongside the first note I saw the x-ray that showed no scoliosis. Thank God! That was three and a half years of waiting for our miracle, but it came. We can trust God absolutely when we know He has spoken to us.

There is a scripture reference noted on that same page, Luke 22:44. It was about Jesus praying so earnestly that sweat fell to the ground like drops of blood. It had been my encouragement to pray as earnestly as I knew how for God’s healing.

I’m blogging on this today for two reasons: Maybe a new reader needs to hear this and not give up as they wait for an answer to prayer. God hears all prayers, not just the little ones. So if you have heard His direction on a matter, confidently trust and follow. The second reason is I just heard a sermon on the importance of telling about our miracles. The pastor said our testimony of miracles is the preparation for someone else’s miracle.

So, I close by asking you this. Do you have a miracle to tell? Examine your life closely. Find the miracle(s) and share your experience. Encourage someone as they wait by giving your testimony. Give it in specifics. God told Joshua to set up stones of remembrance so their miracles wouldn’t be forgotten. In some way, be sure you capture your miracles for future generations (Joshua 4:21-24).

It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me.

–Daniel 4:2 ESV

For we cannot help but speak of the things we have seen and heard.

–Acts 4:20 ESV

Notes in my Bible as mentioned in the
blog. Hold on to your remembrances.

Calls to Serve

10 Thursday Nov 2022

Posted by in Christian service

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My last blog, posted October 25, was on obeying God’s direction to serve even when we don’t understand. You might want to read When We Have an Assignment to Serve before reading this one.

Some assignments are so clear, you simply cannot miss them. Others may be subtle little nudges that can go easily unnoticed. They seem small, happen quickly, and are easily passed by.

I email daily prayer needs to our church family. As I was preparing an email Tuesday of this week, it occurred to me that I should do a little more than I was doing. I should close out the email with scriptures relative to the needs. I added one for healing and another for comfort.

Early that evening I received a call from someone who receives my emails. She began with I’ve had a miracle happen! She has a chronic disease that sometimes flares and causes a great deal of pain. She had been out for the day when it hit and she rushed home, not knowing where this flare was taking her. She sat on the side of her bed, growing weaker and pain progressing. She was trying to decide whether she should go to the emergency room. She reached over for her cell phone and scrolled through emails and pulled up the prayer list for the day. Her eyes fell on the healing scripture below the names and needs and she read it aloud: LORD, my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me (Psalms 30:2). Immediately the pain left. Completely. She felt new strength coursing through her body. She said to me, I promise you, that is exactly how it happened. I called out for help using that scripture and I was instantly healed!

This is what I mean by listening for our assignments. Only God knew that something as simple as a scripture added to my email would be exactly what someone was going to need later in the day. Only He knew that it would become someone’s personal prayer.

This was a whisper of the Holy Spirit that I could have easily ignored and never thought about again. I confess I didn’t think about it being God’s voice at the time. But you see, He is always talking to us and we have to realize and honor that. If it is in our mind to do something and it lines up with scripture, then we can count on it being from God.

I think I know what led me to this particular assignment. I had awakened that morning with the sad memory of a physician friend who had taken his life. He was an exceptionally compassionate physician. I never knew another quite like him. Always available, always patient, always deeply caring. A treatment he had given a patient resulted in her death and he was never able to emotionally recover. What cut me the deepest as I remembered was that in all our conversations, we never talked about faith and eternal life.

So, this week I have reminded myself that the time to witness is NOW. I urge you, that if you see an opportunity, and feel a nudge to do something that witnesses and brings glory to God, go forward and do that thing. NOW.

Heed instruction and be wise. And do not neglect it. –Proverbs 8:33

The Lord will guide you always. –Isaiah 58:11

Establishing the Faith of a Child

21 Monday Feb 2022

Posted by in spiritual training

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Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old, he will not depart from it. –Proverbs 22:6

In the nine years I tutored second graders, I learned a lot about my young friends. I heard their stories. Happy stories, some sad stories, and lots of wishful ponderings. There were times they seemed to need to talk more than work on their reading skills, so we did that.

There was one little girl I think of often. Late in our year together, she told me she didn’t have any close friends in her class. She said she felt like she didn’t fit in. I couldn’t have been more surprised. I thought she had the full package: well-mannered, respectful, smart, neat in appearance, attractive in every way. Why would this delightful little seven-year-old ever feel rejected?

Maybe it was just a bad day or week for J. I hope that’s all it was. But there was one thing I knew for sure. Her young life was being built on a solid foundation of faith in the Lord. She had told me of her recent baptism and I knew she was very familiar with the Bible. J astounded me one day with the correct pronunciation of each book of the Bible! It was something that happened by accident but was the highlight of that year’s tutoring. She said she had been taught all the books of the Bible at her church.

Like J, I was brought up in the church. Also like J, I experienced times of being left out. I experienced them as a child and I’ve experienced them as an adult. They aren’t good memories.

Sometimes we feel rejected without an actual reason, of course. We have summed something up to be true when it really isn’t. Other times we are deliberately treated unkindly and those wounds go deep. I read recently of someone who moved far away from where she had known deep pain from rejection. She determined never to return to the place where people had so harshly judged her.

Feeling rejected or judged may be two of the hardest things we deal with in life. It shouldn’t matter that we don’t meet others’ standards, but it does for most of us. Some of us care too much. (Can you see my hand lifted high?) We are all different in how much being rejected or judged affects us.

J’s mother had to be soundly grounded in her own faith for she knew the importance of what she was passing on to her daughter. How I admired this woman I never met!

At the earliest age, children need Bible instruction. They need to be taught about Jesus and that He is our safe place. No matter what may be happening, or seem to be happening, we can count on Him as a friend who will never leave us. When I’ve felt rejected or judged, it has always been to God that I have turned. I’ve leaned into His embrace and found comfort and new strength.

Though something had happened to cause this child to feel rejected, I saw strength. The strength that comes from knowing Jesus. Close attention was being paid to J’s spiritual growth. I saw the solid footing for making it through the storms of life.

It is a very wise parent who makes spiritual training a priority.

__________

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. –Deuteronomy 6:5-7 NIV

A Song in Mama’s Heart

23 Thursday Dec 2021

Posted by in Love for God

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We fall down,
we lay our crowns
at the feet of Jesus.

This was the music playing to call our prayer group to worship. Suddenly came a strong vision of my grandmother kneeling before Jesus with her gaze fixed solidly on Him. She saw only the One she had loved all her life and it was if she were the only one in His presence when she placed her crown before His feet. Tears filled my eyes.

It was fitting that during this sacred moment such a strong vision of my grandmother would come. Seeing her with the Lord, giving back to Him the crown He had given her. While on this earth, she lived daily in His presence. She was constant in prayer and song was one of her ways of praying. 

papa, mama, mother, me 1943

With Papa and Mama and my mother. The little quilted-brim sunbonnet would have been made by Mama or my mother.

My earliest memory of my grandmother, Dulcie Cotton Spencer, is of her kneeling beside her bed at bedtime in a white homemade nightgown. Her long braids that she wore wound around her head during the day were loosened to fall down her back at night. Mama prayed aloud. Maybe that was her way of including Papa in the nighttime prayers.

While too many of us have concern for our worldly possessions, how ours are stacking up against others, Mama’s concern was gathering up treasures for the king of Kings. She was instructing us in the word of God, sheltering us in His and her love, providing for the sick and grieving with pots of her famous Chicken and Dumplings, welcoming all into her home without regard for what she had to show. Mama and Papa lived a frugal life, but they always had money to help others — and they helped many. They had their priorities in order.  

Copy of spencer family about 1951

1950-51

Both of my grandparents had an intimate, abiding relationship with the Lord, but it was Mama who kept a song in her heart and on her lips. Every day, all day, Mama sang about the Jesus she loved. Ephesians 5:19 says speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and Mama did that. When she cooked, she sang. When she cleaned house, she sang. And when Mama ironed, she sang again. 

Mama Dulcie especially loved songs about heaven. Two of the hymns I remember her singing a lot were When the Roll is Called Up Yonder and Ring the Bells of Heaven. If I close my eyes and sit very still, I can hear her sweet, joyful voice.

Ring the bells of Heaven! There is joy today,
For a soul, returning from the wild!
See, the Father meets him out upon the way,
Welcoming His weary, wandering child.

Glory! Glory! How the angels sing:
Glory! Glory! How the loud harps ring!
‘Tis the ransomed army, like a mighty sea,
Pealing forth the anthem of the free.

Thank you, Mama, for loving Jesus so much and teaching your children and grandchildren to love Him, too. Thank you that you never stopped singing about Jesus. You sang with strong and confident assurance because you knew Him so well. I look forward to being with you again and seeing the mansion Jesus prepared just for you, but for now I sing the song that you sang:

When the roll is called up yonder
When the roll is called up yonder
When the roll is called up yonder
When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.

______________________

I cherish letters from my grandmother. I was not able to be at the family gathering on Christmas of 1986, so she wrote to tell me about it. She closed out her letter with these words: I thank God every day for all my blessings. I know he hears me. I know He heard you, too, Mama, and I’m grateful for every prayer you offered with my name on it. I feel certain I’m still reaping the rewards.

My treasured picture with Mama, 1982, was made by The Jackson Sun when they published an article I wrote about Christmases at my grandparents’ house. Papa had died a few months before.

The Best Christmases of All

15 Wednesday Dec 2021

Posted by in Celebrate Christmas

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Mama and Papa 001There was only one thing my grandparents wanted each year for Christmas—for all their children to be home at once. That was the gift that brought tears to Papa’s eyes and radiance to Mama’s face. All seven children home with spouses and children. I think it was what gave all of us the best of Christmases.

DAY_DADDY_CAME_HOME_FROM_SE - Copy

Their house was humble in appearance. A white frame house Papa had built onto as need required. My mother and I were the reason for one addition. When Daddy went to war and I was just months old, Papa brought us there to live with them. It was a house made for practicality and not show.

At Christmastime, the multi-colored lights on the tree shone through the living room window, beckoning us home. Cars parked on the narrow street up and down both sides for a block. Neighbors never minded; they were invited to join us and some always did. 

Each time the front door opened laughter and greetings of welcome rang out. It was good to be together again. Mama and Papa would stand just inside the door waiting to embrace every family member and friend. Papa would chuckle with delight because his “chillun” had come home. Christmas with Papa 1979 001

Packages were stowed under the tree and dishes of food taken on to the kitchen to help Mama feed the multitude. She had cooked for days and if no one had brought a single thing, there would still have been plenty. After the tree and kitchen visits there was one more stop before joining the men for talking or the women for getting the food ready. That stop was to find Mama’s large blue granite roasting pan. For in that pan would be the one dish we had looked forward to all year—Mama’s cornbread dressing. I guess we just needed a little reassurance that it was there waiting for us.

Christmas at the Spencer’s was for love and sharing and the larger the crowd the better. Boyfriends, girlfriends, in-laws, great aunts and uncles, our pastor and his family, our small town’s highly revered doctor and his wife. Everyone was welcome. We sat everywhere, even in the bedrooms. And the food was like the loaves and fish that Jesus blessed, it seemed to keep replenishing itself.  JIM_AND_DULCIE_SPENCER_001 - Copy

One thing always happened in that house before any meal was had and that was a prayer of thanksgiving. At Christmastime, everyone migrated to the spot where Papa and Mama stood and a hush fell over the house. If Papa said the prayer he thanked God for every person there—and he cried. Papa couldn’t pray without crying because his heart was ever grateful to God for His blessings, and when Papa spoke to the Lord, his love for Him spilled out emotionally.

Money couldn’t buy the blessing of having been born into the family of Jim and Dulcie Spencer. I am indeed rich in heritage. I thank God for giving me two of His finest creations as grandparents and for the many memories of Christmases past on Campbell Street in Medina, Tennessee.

Mama and Papa 1977

Jim and Dulcie Spencer (Papa and Mama) at their house on Campbell Street in 1977. The place we all called home and would rather be than anywhere else.

The seven Spencer children, mid-1980s, probably.
L-R (standing): Tera, Betty Jo (Replogle), Bluford
Front: JB, Louise, (Luffman), Evelyn (Barnes),
Cornelia (Cagle)
Spencer children standing in birth order. The picture was probably made about 1938 or ’39. Louise (my mother), JB, Bluford, Cornelia, Tera, Evelyn, Betty Jo. All deceased except for Cornelia (94) and Tera (92).

This was first published in 2014. I have added a few pictures and am posting it again today in honor of the 30th anniversary of my grandmother’s going home to Jesus. There was never a better woman than Dulcie Cotton Spencer. She witnessed her faith and love for Christ every minute of her life.

Thanksgiving 1982 at my house. She was 82.

The Problem with Assuming

10 Friday Dec 2021

Posted by in Assumptions

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I am reading an 1800s novel about a man who causes himself great heartache when he assumes something to be true solely based on what he sees. In the story, Larson is badly burned while away from home on business. He survives only by a godly couple’s determined care for his body and soul. He is unable to get word to his wife, Kathryn, and is thought to have died in a snowstorm. Yet his wife never gives up hope that he is alive and will come back to her.

Months later, when Larson is able to travel, he lingers on the outskirts of his rural community’s small town, watching for his wife and wondering if she will accept him back into her life. The burns have left him scarred beyond recognition. He is hesitant to reveal himself to his wife for fear of her disgust and rejection upon seeing him. 

Larson, looking on from the shadows of the small town, sees his wife going into a brothel and assumes she has turned to this kind of life to make a living. They were barely surviving when he left home. He also notices a bulge at her waistline and assumes, rightly so, that she is pregnant. But Larson believes Kathryn is pregnant by someone she entertained. Now he is the one filled with disgust.

Larson’s assumptions were wrong. Kathryn was taking food to a woman in the brothel, a woman she was bearing witness to that God had a better plan for her life. And the baby she was carrying was his, conceived on their last night together. He had not given room for that possibility because, after 10 years of trying to have a baby, Larson believes himself to be sterile.

For quite a while, Larson watches from afar, loving her with all that he is but doubting his ability to accept things as they appear to be. He finds solace for his heartache only when he turns to the Bible the couple had given him. Philippians 4:8 said to Larson, “Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (ESV).

Kathryn had been all these things and when he focuses on these truths, Larson finds peace. God’s word becomes a shelter for him from the harsh winds of his conjecture. When he falters and lets go of God’s wisdom, each time he falls back into assumptions which leads to agitation and anger. He inflicts needless pain on himself by believing what he thinks he is seeing — but isn’t real.

Aren’t we all guilty from time to time? Making ourselves miserable with assumptions? Remember how Jack Webb of Dragnet fame used to say, “Just the facts, ma’am (or sir), just the facts”? That’s still good advice. We can wind up in a place we don’t need to be and find later the destination was completely unnecessary and not on God’s map for us at all. The Message Bible says this in Proverbs 25:8: “Don’t jump to conclusions. There may be a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw.”

Tamera Alexander is an inspired writer, weaving scripture into the storyline exceptionally well. Her book, Rekindled, is a good reminder of many things, but for this blog purpose, it is that we should never make decisions based on assumptions. And, even should our assumptions turn out to be correct, God’s overriding principle is still Love. His word is a book of love. His love for us and how He wants us to love others. We shore ourselves up mightily when we read and practice its wisdom daily.

God’s word is always wisdom.

Prayerful Pondering’s beautiful header is by Mark Hearn, my son-in-law.

Blessed to Learn from Adversity

21 Saturday Mar 2020

Posted by in Learning from Adversity

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After a very interesting conversation with my dear friend Bonny Napolitano Bonny 2012 picabout the Coronavirus, I asked if she would be a guest blogger on Prayer Pondering and speak from her heart about our pandemic. I have valued her advice for many years and turned to her often to pray with me about matters of deep concern. Here’s what Bon has to say about our current situation.

________________________

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

As a former Air Force nurse who specialized in public health and disaster response, I’ve been impressed and reassured by our government’s guidance during the coronavirus pandemic.  You may have noticed that Dr Anthony Fauci (who authored my public health textbook) and the Coronavirus Task Force speak every day about what they’re learning, and how they’re acting on this new knowledge.

However, for those of us without a preventive health background, we may struggle with feelings of uncertainty, isolation and even fear. But, as believers in Jesus Christ, we can learn to take action to feel calm and confident.

Amidst the noise of newscasts and social media, sometimes I forget that we are made in the image and likeness of God.  What does that really mean?  It means that, like Our Heavenly Father, we are naturally creative, decisive and loving.

God-given creativity:

 I feel blessed by having so many ways to stay in touch with friends and family through electronic media. I’m trying to connect with people I haven’t seen or talked to for a while. It makes me feel both energized and thankful for renewed friendships. Pat and I have known one another for close to 30 years, but have seen one another only about 5-6 times.  In spite of living hundreds of miles apart, we feel like sisters. So use your creativity to keep in touch with friends and relatives in nursing facilities, in other states or even other countries!

God-given decisions:

Our Heavenly Father longs to guide us through His personalized inspiration. I’m finally learning I can pray to know what medical advice we need to follow, what meals I can prepare with limited ingredients, what activities I can try to bring us closer together.  Today in Texas, I smiled as I noticed bluebonnets blooming on the side of the road, oblivious to our drama. It’s a great visual reminder that deciding to “bloom” (and not gloom!) can normalize our daily life.

God-given ability to love:

As God’s children, we have been blessed with an unlimited capacity to love. I get to show love to strangers, friends, families, health care workers, first responders, ministers and missionaries. I can choose words of kindness and appreciation in my home and online. I can read my scriptures and share God’s word with others. I can thank God for His love for us. Like people in Italy who can no longer give hugs, we can sing to one another from our balconies!

As a nurse, I have always stressed that health happens in the home, not in the hospital. I need to remember our heavenly home, and use this time to learn how to live up to His loving expectations.

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee.” (Isaiah 26:3)

____________________

My sincere thanks to my sister/friend Bonny T. Napolitano, RN, BSN, MPH, USAF veteran serving as Environmental Health Officer. Civilian life: specializing in community health, Hispanic health, disaster preparedness, occupational health, patient rights, caregiver support, and healthcare strategic planning.

Our Pandemic and Personal Decisions

15 Sunday Mar 2020

Posted by in Hearing God's Voice

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There sure are lots of opinions on what not to do and where not to go with the coronavirus pandemic. It seems we have a war of words and wisdom.  I’ve been thinking a lot about our world situation and want to add some thoughts of my own.

I have some friends who say they intend to do just as they’ve been doing; they don’t intend to start living their lives afraid. They are Christians and will trust God to protect them. I am also a Christian and I trust God to protect me every day in many situations. One of the last things I do at night is thank God for the protection He has provided during that day; I begin mornings with a prayer for protection for the new day and whatever may come.

But along with my prayers of petition and thanksgiving, I trust that God has also given me common sense and the ability to hear His guiding me in where I should go and what I should do. I don’t go into any day “just trusting.” I ask for guidance and then I listen to hear what I believe He is saying is right for me. I know I don’t always get it right and sometimes it is deliberate rebellion, I ashamedly admit.  Maybe not consciously, but I think I’ve already got it figured out, so onward I go. But, why pray, if I don’t believe I will receive an answer with intention to follow? I also know that how He advises me may not be the same way He advises another.

Let me say right off I don’t think there is a wrong or right in many things, but rather a sense of how you are being personally led to act. For example, I rarely go out at night and not because I’m afraid, but because there is an inner guidance that it is better for me to be inside my home once the sun has gone to bed and the stars come out. That’s not the same sense everyone has and I certainly respect that. I have a dear friend who thinks nothing of traveling from one end of this large city to the other after dark and alone. She says she isn’t alone, God is always with her. I believe and I trust that for her she is doing the right thing. God is also very much with me; I never feel without God for a single minute. The difference is she’s following what the Holy Spirit is telling her and I’m following what I believe He is telling me. Why is it different? I can’t say. It’s certainly not a matter of faith for me (and some have suggested that – that I should have more faith). Why my friend and I sense we are to do things differently would be a question only the Lord could answer. I assume there might be dangers around me that aren’t around Katherine. Dangers I don’t know about, but the Lord does. I do not live in my house afraid, but I do live cautiously.

So it is with the matter of the coronavirus. I will be more attentive to whether I need to be in a particular place and more watchful with how things are being handled. (Have you ever noticed that people in the grocery deli wear gloves but they touch absolutely everything in those gloves? The meat they slice for you, the scales they weight it on, and even the cash register in some stores?) I will wash my hands more as I’m opening doors that may have just been opened by others who haven’t seen soap and water for a while. I’m a big hugger, but I’ll probably do a little less of that for a while.

I realize, like most things, there will be little agreement on how this is to be handled. None of us knows all the things that lead another in making decisions and it’s sometimes more than just what medical opinion they have been given.

When I was growing up, there was little I feared. In fact, my mother would get quite frustrated and occasionally angry with me for being afraid of nothing – she said. Now I find myself in that “over 70” age group. My immune system isn’t what it used to be, neither is my pain threshold (goodness, did I ever have a very high one of those!) I’ve had some unexpected health issues in this past few year and will live with one for the rest of my life. It has to be treated with careful attention and treatment so I won’t take unnecessary chances.

However we decide to address our reaction and behavior to this pandemic, I do hope we all make educated and prayerful decisions.  I also hope we don’t forget that God gave great wisdom to medical professionals to help us, not confuse or scare us. I keep remembering a young woman who was diagnosed with colon cancer. Surgery was advised. She refused it, saying she had full faith that God would heal her. Her family pleaded with her to have the surgery, but Lori wouldn’t budge. That young wife and mother died, leaving behind a 16 year old daughter. I know she loved the Lord with all her heart and trusted to the end that He would heal her, but perhaps the healing He had in mind was by the hands of a surgeon He had blessed with knowledge and skill. There is, after all, more than one kind of healing testimony. Do I believe we can be healed by the direct intervention of God? Yes, I do. I’ve experienced it personally more than once.

Whatever we decide, let’s not make others feel ours is the only right decision. Let’s not push them to question their faith nor cause them to be unjustly afraid. Let’s not argue our position, whatever that is, and here I speak to myself more than anyone else. I know I’m a strong personality with strong opinions, so I’m resolving right now to monitor more what I say to another and not be so free with advice.  I’ll continue to ask God to help us all get through this very tough time, and above all, to love and be kind to one another as we make the journey.

Resting in God’s Peace

26 Monday Nov 2018

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Ask what the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. (Jeremiah 6:16 NIV))

There is a peace that only God can give. It is as Augustine said “God has made us for Himself and our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.” No matter the thing we deal with, small or mighty, when we learn to rest in God all things become manageable in a better way. They become subject to Him and we no longer feel we have to be in charge — in mind or in practice. We can have that peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). Hear these stories:

Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic for 51 years, just learned she has cancer again. “When I received the unexpected news of cancer, I relaxed and smiled, knowing that my sovereign God loves me dearly and holds me tightly in His hands. What good is it if we only trust the Lord when we understand His ways? That only guarantees a life filled with doubts.” Joni has had a lifetime of resting all in the Lord.

I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
    I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. (Psalm 9:1 NLT)

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Nick Vujicic who was born without limbs says “It is hard to find purpose or good in difficult circumstances, but that is the journey. Why does it have to be a journey? Because throughout the difficult times, you will learn more, grow more in faith, love God more, and love your neighbor more. It is the journey of faith that begins in love and ends in love.” Nick rested his difficulties in the Lord long ago. He has a wife and four children and speaks internationally about his faith in God. He proclaims with James:

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (James 1:2-4 NLT)

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Five weeks ago, a three-year-old child became very sick, suffered a seizure, and is just now coming out of a coma. She isn’t speaking yet and is unable to walk. She has a long rehabilitative journey ahead of her, yet this is what her mother says: “Even though this has been the toughest thing for us to go through, we are thankful that God chose our little girl to do such big things for Him. Most importantly, we are thankful for our God who can heal Hadley completely and for our faith which we could not handle this season without. I know that she is touching so many people and for that I will always be grateful.”

Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. (Philippians 3:1) I have learned the secret of living in every situation . . . for I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:12, 13 NLT). 

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One December a friend who lives many states away came to visit. We took her to a party held in a beautiful and luxuriously decorated home. Our friend lived under great financial constraints; she enjoyed no luxuries, ever. I became concerned that the contrast of life style might sadden her. Yet all through the evening, she was clearly having fun. She said the party was a good reminder of earlier times, before her husband became a housebound invalid. She was grateful for the experience of being in the midst of laughing people.

Let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. (Colossians 3:15 NLT)

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It isn’t that some people are born stronger than others, but that they have made the decision to let go of their circumstances and trust God — to rest in Him. We will all have storms in our lives, some far greater than others, but the secret to living above the storm is giving it to God. When we are fully submitted, no matter what happens, we take on the peace of God. It is His promise.

Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught.  (Colossians 2:7 NLT)