It Might Be Today

My daughter shared this song with me today and the words are just what my spirit cries out. I love how the Lord gifts people to put into song what our hearts cry is. Here are the lyrics - "Though I don't see You still Lord I love You. You've given me hope; You've given me life. Through all my trials still Lord Your with me and I have Your word Your coming back for me. It might be today I look into Your eyes. Might be today I see Your face. Might be today you place Your wounded hands on my tear-stained face, it might be today."

IT MIGHT BE TODAY!!!

Search My Heart O God

From Victorious Christian Service by Alan Redpath
p. 157 - "Some years ago, when I was preaching at a little church on the south side of London, I was asked to visit a young woman who had been completely paralyzed for nine years. Up to the age of twenty-one she had been an active worker in the church and Sunday school, and God seemed greatly to have blessed her ministry. But suddenly she was stricken with this dreadful disease and since that time had never been able to move.

I gladly assented to go to see her, but as I went along the road to the house I wondered to myself, "What can I say to this dear soul? I have never known anything about suffering like that." And it seems to me that before you can really bring comfort to others you have to know something of the experience through which they have passed.

So I asked that the Lord would give me some word to say to her that might be a blessing, and as I knocked on the door, her mother answered and led me into the sick room. There lay this young woman, absolutely helpless, on her back. I went up to her bedside and began to utter a word of sympathy. She looked at me, and I shall never forget the look in her face when she said, "Please don't offer your sympathy. I don't need it. I would not have missed the experience of these past nine years for anything in the world.

"When I was twenty-one years of age serving the Lord at church," she said, "I remember yielding my life completely to Him, saying to Him, 'Lord, I am ready for anything You may want me to do for You or be for You.' Only a few weeks later His hand touched my body and laid me aside. Through these past years He has become so infinitely more precious to me than He could ever have been in all the busy round of Christian service."

As I listened to her, I felt so utterly unworthy, and I wondered just how much I had suffered for Jesus. It seemed to me here was a young woman, quite out of the public eye, who had been not laid aside in sickness but called aside for stillness, so that during these nine years the Lord had drawn so very close to her, and she to Him.

I discovered that she had a long prayer list, and every day she spent hours in prayer for missionaries, preachers, and teachers of the Word. She put me on her prayer list that day, and eternity alone will reveal how much I owe as a minister of the gospel to the prayers of that dear woman who for so long had been helpless and crippled. Surely this is just one example out of thousands where the Lord has permitted the suffering and the crushing that out of such a life there might come fragrance and fruitfulness and inspiration to others.

I believe the King of kings has a very special portion for such dear souls because their ministry is so mighty and so effective. Delegation, yes, to a very precious task but a very costly one. I wonder if you and I would be willing to have it delegated to us? Just suppose every bit of Christian work we do were taken from us, that our health and strength departed, and we were laid aside like that. Would we be bitter, or could we accept such a thing as from the hand of the Lord?

Somehow I feel that some day when we see our Lord face to face there will be come great surprises. Many of us who have held prominent positions in Christian work may not be so prominent then. Many who have been obscure, lonely souls, to whom little attention has been paid and whose ministry has never been recognized or praised, will be among those who are the first to hear His "Well done!" -- end of quote

--So easy to say, "Here I am, send me." Yet when you feel shelved and out of service (my view of service) it is so easy to feel lonely, useless and forgotten. This story, and other stories that have come my way, have been searching me and showing me how far I still have to go before "dying to self". This flesh dies o so slowly and o so painfully. To grow where we are planted. To learn to be content in all things. Hearing Pancho Juarez (pastor for Calvary Chapel Montebello) the other day he said something about the Lord pruning the fruit that is on the tree so that the tree can continue to give more fruit. He said that this was o so painful. And so we continue on this journey, this pilgrimage until we see Our Savior face-to-face and what a glorious day this will be. Then, nothing else will matter...even so come Lord Jesus!!!

Jesus Bring the Rain

Lately I've been "listening" to a song by Mercy Me called "Jesus Bring the Rain". My sarcasm gets the best of me and I think, "easy to say, bring whatever brings You glory" while you worship and praise the Lord, but then when things come our way, that are so incredibly difficult to understand or even fathom, we kind of back peddle and wonder why we said those words. So today as I saw a video, on my nieces "blog", of this song my heart simply melted. The Lord is so faithful to the work that He is doing in my life that He speaks to me from everywhere He can get my attention. Sometime ago He had showed me that "the sun" is still shining behind the dark clouds. It doesn't matter how dark and ominous the clouds might look or seem, the sun is behind them shinning with all its splendor. The clouds do not change the sun. So it doesn't matter how dark it might get around me, Jesus (the Son) is still shinning in all His glory and splendor. He remains the same. He also showed me how beautiful and clean everything looks after the storm. So as I ponder the words of this song, as My Jesus is teaching me to look unto Him, the Author and Finisher of my faith. May He give me the grace to say, "bring the rain, whatever brings You glory". If we are faithless, HE remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

Trust God

He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shake. On God my salvation and my glory rest; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62:6-8 ---I don't know what disappointments you have to face, Beloved, but I can tell you with utmost confidence that God is no respecter of persons, only a respecter of faith. Don't give up! Trust God's intentions and His capabilities. ---Kay Arthur

"The Warrior is a Child" by Twila Paris

Lately I've been winning battles left and right / But even winners can get wounded in the fight / People say that I'm amazing / strong beyond my years / But they don't see inside of me I'm hiding all the tears.
They don't know that I go running home when I fall down / They don't know WHO picks me up when no one is around / I drop my sword and cry for just a while / 'Cause deep inside this armour - The Warrior is a Child / Unafraid because His armour is the best / But even soldiers need a quiet place to rest / People say that I'm amazing / Never face retreat / But they don't see the enemies that lay me at HIS FEET
They don't know that I go running home when I fall down / They don't know WHO picks me up when no one is around / I drop my sword and look up for a smile / 'Cause deep inside this armour...The Warrior is a Child

Under His Wings

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!"...He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. Psalm 91:1-2,4 ---Let's not leave the place of our appointment. There under the security of "His wings" we can dwell, knowing that whatever comes our way must first come through Him. He will be our shield. ---Kay Arthur

God's Hand is Evident

If anybody knows me they know that I am a "planner". My schedule is precious to me and I try to stay on track unless some drastic thing happens (like Mom's slurring speech together with not recognizing me and not being able to walk...how is that for a schedule breaker?!). Anyhow, today, after taking Mom to her dentist appointment (did I say appointment-ugh!) I proceeded with the rest of my day. Then my day was interrupted by my son's call that he needed a ride from work. Of course I did the usual and proceeded to call my hubby to pick our son after he got out of work (did I confuse you:}). I could not get ahold of my hubby so I started to "think" (my daughter says I think too much:+) how to get out of this errand. I already was into the rest of "my" day and nothing was going to change it. But somehow in my heart I knew I needed to go pick him up. So I, reluctantly, picked up my purse and the car keys and off I go. Of course in my mind I'm already thinking, "dinner is going to be late, cause this is cutting into my dinner preparation." Off I go into the sunset...oops sorry...into the freeway. Got there picked my son up and proceeded to make our way home. And then an extremely rare, but pleasant surprise took place, my son started to chat with me. What he shared really touched my heart and I will ponder it quite a bit. I got a glimpse into his heart...compose yourself Leti!!! Okay, where was I...okay we get home and I proceeded to start dinner with the head-knowledge that I was late. My hubby got home and I told him, "dinner will be late today". He was like, "okay." So there I was making rice, corn and chicken. Here is the kicker...ready...when I looked at the clock, thinking it was super-dooper late, it was only 4:00pm! We have dinner at 4:30pm...I know that is unheard of, but stay with me. The first thing that came to my mind was, "this is so God!" He took care of "my" schedule while I did "HIS" schedule. I know my time with my son was His will for me and so therefore He took care of what concerned me. He is so Faithful and concerned with every detail of my life. Thank you Jesus for your unconditional love!

Carvel Ice Cream...the simple things in life!

The Promises of God

For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. 2 Corinthians 1:20 --- What do you do when you face "impossible" situations? You can decide there is no way out and run. You can be carried along by what you see, what you hear, what you're experiencing. Or you can choose the only option that comes with a warranty: run to the promises of God! --- Kay Arthur

Appointments, Appointments, Appointments

Hi Fellow Caregivers,
Grab your wheelchairs, walkers, potty chairs, etc. cause we are up and running or should I say crawling - lol! Yes, humor is medicine to the soul as one dear sister reminded us. That is why I use lots of humor and lots of sarcasm to get through the fog and the grind. September is gone and with it went lots and lots (did I say lots?) of appointments. I've done more cross-word puzzles than I can think of...given more medical history to last for all of history...pushed, pulled, grabbed, and sat and sat and sat...I'm tired just listing these things. Let me entertain you by telling you about "our" last appointment (lest I bore you with alllllll the others). We were at Mom's Geriatrics Doctor (for those not familiar with medical terminology - it is the old folk doctor - hey, I should make an appointment with him, maybe he can figure out what is wrong with "my" old body...sorry I kind went off on another subject:o) Anyhow, after waiting to be called and waiting in the room. We waited in the room for over an hour because they forgot about us (not the first time this happens, however it was the first time at this Doctor's office). I did more cross-word puzzles to avoid listening to whining. The Doctor finally showed up and we did our routine. He gave me some more work to do and other work to continue - yeah! the excitement was overwhelming!!! Then he said the nurse would be in to give Mom the flu shot and then we were good to go. Okay, things were looking up. The nurse came in and said, "I have your Mom's flu shot." I said, "Great, can you also give her a shot to put her to sleep?!" Yes, I know you are gasping and growning, as so was I when the nurse (who knows me very well) said to me, "Agg, I don't do that." Back peddling and realizing what has just came out of my mouth and was giggling and kind of laughing and said, "Uh, uh meant, you know a shot so she can uh take a nap, I mean sleep better..." Yes, you could cut the tension with a knife. Thank goodness Mom doesn't understand English, otherwise I would probably have a bruised back (she has a pretty heavy, free hand!). Yes, I survived and they let me out without calling The Elderly Abused Hotline...whew! I'm telling you when God said He uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, I know He was thinking of me. Thank God for His long-suffering and patience.