Thanks be to God

Happy Thanksgiving to dear ones near and far!

I have so many blessings for which to be 

THANKFUL,

but the greatest of all

is that 

THE GREATEST ONE

has come to

give me life. 

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

2 Corinthians 9:15 

I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. 
They will be my people, and I will be their God, 
for they will return to me with all their heart.

Jeremiah 24:7 


Have you found His indescribable gift?
Have you come to know
the Greatest One?


I would love to pray with you
on your journey.


Leave me a comment below
and we can walk together
knowing HIM.

I am linking with:

Jaime Wiebel, #SittingAmongFriends 
Barbie Swihart, #Glimpses 
Jennifer Dukes Lee, #TellHisStory 

 

The Joy of Consolation

 

 

 

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.

Psalm 94:19, NIV 








What do you do when 

your heart trembles

under a load of 

anxiety?

Do you have a word that soothes

or a song that comforts?

I have a treasure chest full

that measures an abundance of 

JOY

just waiting for me.

Sometimes easily forgotten, 

one simple thought

can take me down the path

that will open the vault of memories

stored

with friends of the most

heart-full kind.

There is the friend who 

drove the car while my husband held onto 

our mattress tied to the roof of the car.

Then there is the couple who 

brought 3 pies to our house

and got snowed in at Thanksgiving

so we ate all the pies, the four

of us, in ONE day.

Or maybe I would remember the

friend who eagerly shared my

joy in gardening and donned her

raincoat and boots

just so that we would not miss our

yearly Garden Planting Day.

Ah, yes, another gardening friend

came alongside

for our Secret Gardening Forays

as we transplanted and prettied

up our townhouse complex

together.

But what kinds of friends would

willingly

sign up to portray the cast of

a Gilligan Christmas

put on by the STAFF of your Church?

True friends who know what it means

to love to the full

day in and day out

because 

that's what Jesus calls us to do.

And by the time I've 

walked through the years

back up to the present,

and my heart is looking down 

the trail that is today,

I find a new list of friends.

Ones who have joined me with
Blogging, Facebook, and Emails for

Digital Loving,

a phrase I did not know could exist.

But then,

who would have thought that

mattress chugging,

pie eating,

boot wearing,

shovel bearing,

and 

costume wearing

could be ways to find true consolation

and JOY

from Jesus?

There is no room for anxiety

when my heart is so full

of LOVE like that. 


And so to all of my friends,
both near and far,
And to all of my Loved Ones
who live in my heart,
I am THANKFUL for the gift
of consolation
that Jesus brings through you.



I am linking this week over at these great sites:
#TeaAndWordTuesday, Meg Weyerbacher 
#TellHisStory, Jennifer Dukes Lee 
#LiveFreeThursday, Suzie Eller 
 

 

 

As the Holidays Approach

The holidays were approaching, yet another specialty medication wasn’t panning out in the way we had hoped, and I found myself in a full-blown Rheumatoid Arthritis flare, longing for any kind of relief from the pain. I called my Rheumatologist to report on my condition and his instructions were, “Lay low and be patient. We have to wait three months before your insurance will accept another change.” Reluctantly, I agreed to restart my pain meds, even though prednisone plays havoc with my emotions, as it was the only relief available for the moment.

God, where are you? And why are none of my usual coping methods acceptable any longer?


I used to be really good at “walking it off” when my mind filled with darkness, and the satisfaction of a job well done could lift my eyes away from my problems, giving me a jolt of hope that maybe my problems weren’t so all-consuming after all.

But now? There was no walking or chore or service that my body would allow. Caring for my basic needs took every available ounce of strength.

The low point came when I looked at the calendar. Thanksgiving was only a few weeks away. We love when our adult children and their families gather at our home. We cook and eat our way through a day of feasting and fun, but this year something had to give, there was no hope I could prepare for that kind of gathering.

. . . 

I am so blessed to be part of the story-telling team over at 

Chronic-Joy Ministries today. To continue reading this post

of how God works through Chronic Illness,

please join me by clicking the link here.





I'm linking today over at
#LiveFreeThursday, Suzie Eller 

In Him We Live and Move and Have our Being

Before I began this Journey into Chronic Illness more than two years ago,

I had immersed myself in praying

the Scriptures,

through a Beth Moore book, titled,

Praying God's Word: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds.

I did not see the place that lay before me.

But my Lord was making preparation.

Even as the pain began increasing,

and the Specialist spoke the words

Chronic Rheumatoid Arthritis,

I did not feel the darkness that was lying

in wait

to pounce and cover me as the 

nights began to swallow the days.

But today the nudge of my Lord

led me back to the first chapter of 

Beth Moore's book, and her quote:

"The giant step in the walk of faith is the one we take when we decide God no longer is a part of our life. He is our life."

followed by this passage in Acts:

 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.  And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.  God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.  ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.'" 

Acts 17:24-28 NIV 

 

I don't think I could have seen how much I  depended on my own healthy, strong self

until that self became en-robed in weakness.

 

Oh, don't get me wrong here.

I longed for God to be my life.

I cried out for Him to expose my hidden sins,

and I searched the words that my mind

fell back upon to see His Mercy.

 

But physically?

Well, that was my own responsibility.

I tried to make healthy choices.

I walked those trails to increase my stamina,

and I pushed my strength,

day after day as I shoveled and carried and

weeded my way through our land.

So when I found myself being gradually

stripped of those abilities,

I heard myself complaining to God,

"Why did you bring me to this place if I can't take care of it?" 

Ah,

There's the catch, isn't it?

What if He wanted to show me exactly that?

Maybe I am here, BECAUSE I cannot 

take care of it,

and

Maybe He wants to be more than a part of my

spiritual and emotional life.

HE WANTS MY WHOLE LIFE.

MY WHOLE BROKEN SELF.

So, in these days before the Official

THANKSGIVING DAY,

my heart is filled with Thanks:

Thanks for the preparation

and Thanks for the journey

that leads me to more of HIM

who is my whole life.

And in this way,

our hearts can truly say

we are thankful in every season. 

I am linking this week with these great sites:

#TellHisStory Jennifer Dukes Lee 
#TeaAndWordTuesday, Meg Weyerbacher