Another Milestone

 

FAITH MOMENTS

 



Yesterday our family reached another milestone.  I guess I should speak only for myself.  It didn't mean much to my husband or my twelve-year-old daughter that she went to White Water Bay (our local water park) with a friend and WITHOUT ME.  I'm sure she was tired of my reminders (reapply sunscreen hourly, drink lots of water, don't talk to strangers especially boys, don't give anyone your phone number, stay with your friend, call me if you need me).  After her eye rolling, I would remind her I love her and tell her "Have fun!"

You may be facing some milestones of your own.  Your baby crawling for the first time and you realize your life has totally changed.  No more walking to the other room knowing she will be in the same spot when you return.  With my first daughter, I couldn't wait for her to crawl, walk, and run.  By the third daughter, I was asking her to slow down.

Other major milestones...

--First day of Kindergarten (had to get permission from A, my oldest daughter, to walk her to class)
--Last year of Elementary School (my middle daughter J is here)
--First day of Middle School (survived that last year)
--First day of High School (glad we aren't here yet)

Some of you are ahead of me.  I will stop at High School.
 
Many milestones are celebratory and mixed with emotions.

Other milestones I've watched close family and friends experience recently (you know who you are) that "don't make the hip parade," as my Father-in-Law would say.

--First day in PICU
--First day living with known cancer
--First wedding anniversary that your spouse forgets because of dementia.
--First day living without a loved one

When I started this post, I didn't intend for it to be so sad or discouraging.   But that is how life is sometimes.  You hit milestones that bring a smile.  And the very next day can bring tears.  Some days even teeter between the extremes.  

But there is HOPE!  God is still here.  He is in control.  He is mighty to save.  His grace is sufficient.  His mercies are new every morning. 

As I let my daughter go to the water park, I realized she is growing up.  And I'm reminded that Jesus wants us to grow up in faith.  We don't get to choose the means for growth (None of us would choose the last list of milestones).

James 1: 2-4  (New Living Translation) 
2 Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. 3 For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.

Lessons from Last Year's Fear (3rd and final part)

The story continues...(You may to read the last two posts to catch up)  My daughter, J,  came home from the hospital around 5:00 p..m.

Reasons I survived...
1)  God's preparation

I was reading "Experiencing God Day By Day" by Henry and Richard Blackaby for my quiet time.  The day before J went to the ER with swelling in her ankles and an odd rash on her legs, the scripture reference was Romans 14:23, "But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin."  The writers say, "Whenever God reveals something, He expects us to believe Him and adjust our lives accoringly.  What does this mean?  It means we trust Him implicity for all our needs (Phil. 4:19)...It means we approach crises with the assurance that God will bring good from them (Romans 8:28).  It means we overcome anxiety during stressful situations because God instructs us to bring our requests to Him. (Phil. 4:6)...Faithlessnes is sin.  "But without faith it is impossible to please Him (Heb. 11:6)".  And the day J would go to the hospital, God prepared me with another devotion about Phil. 4:6, "Be anxious for nothing..." 

God used scriptures to prepare me. 
 Phil. 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made know to God.”  I love verse 7, “and the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”  I experienced these verses the day my daughter couldn't walk in the hospital. 

2) God's provision
The next day, the girls had a snow day and went to play with some friends.  I noticed some bruising on my J's ankles, where she had swelling previously. I called her Dr. and he said he would try to get her scheduled with a rheumatologist.  I called my rheumatologist neighbor (God's provision) to discuss J's symptoms and ask for advice.  After dinner, J complained of being cold so she went to take a shower.  When she got out, her knees were swollen and she couldn't walk without a limp.  I called my neighbor back and explained her knees were swollen and her rash was bigger.  She and her husband, cardiologist, (God's provision) came over to look at J.  They felt we could give her ibuprofen and wait until our next day appointment with our pediatrician.  

 The next morning (Friday), J’s swelling in her knees had subsidedr.  We continued to give her ibuprofen.  I texted our rheumatologist neighbor to see if she could help us see a pediatric rheumatologist.  She spoke with one on call that day.  When we saw our pediatrician, he called the rheumatologist and spoke with her about J's case, while we were there that day.   Our pediatrician thought she had HSP (Henloch Schonlein Purpurar) with the migrating arthritis and rash.  It is an inflammatory reaction of the immune system to medication, or after strept.  We had an appointment with the rheumatologist the following Monday (totally a God-thing to get into a specialist so quickly).

3)  God's protection
J felt great over the weekend.  We kept her on continuous ibuprofen and waited for our Monday appointment (Valentine’s Day).  We thought we would go and hear, “Yes, she has HSP…no worries.”  However, she did not confirm the diagnosis and thought she had acute rheumatic fever.  With rheumatic fever, J could have had heart problems, none.  With the HSP, she could have had kidney problems, none.  God is good.   The Dr. prescribed prophylaxis antibiotics until she is 21 years old to prevent J from ever getting strept again.  If she gets strept, she could get the rheumatic fever again, with possible damage to her heart.

J had another echocardiogram that same week.  Heart: perfect.  Three months later, J went to a pediatric cardiologist.  He said she did not have any effects, and won't, from this episode of rheumatic fever.  Praise the Lord!

God prepared me, provided health care when we needed it, and protected J through it all.  Most importantly, I learned lessons about fear and faith I can apply for years to come. 

What is God teaching you about fear or faith? 


Linked up to:http://biblelovenotes.blogspot.com/p/friday-blog-hop.html

Lessons from Last Year's Fear Part II

The story continues... (you may need to read the last post first " Lessons from Last Year's Fear")

The ER Dr. admitted her into the hospital over night because she couldn’t walk.  The next morning, she still had difficulty walking to the bathroom, but progressively got better throughout the day.  The pediatric Dr. took blood work and decided to do a heart echocardiogram and EKG due to elevated  white blood count (WBC )and sed rate (rate of inflammation).  Everything checked out fine, praise the Lord!  The Dr. discharged her because clinically she was much better, but he couldn’t explain why she got better so quickly.  He also warned that , "she may not be out of the woods yet".  Even though all the tests showed her heart functioning normally, it did not mean her heart wouldn’t be affected later.  He instructed us to call our pediatrician if there were any changes.  She finally came home around 5:00 p.m.

The snow storm came as expected, making the roads questionable for travel.   A friend offered to take me to see her in the hospital, but we thought she would be home sooner than she did.  I also had two other girls to consider.  So, my battle continued.  Faith or Fear?  Besides the step I shared in the last post (Focus on the Present), I also had to:

 

I.                      Focus on the Proof.

 With my daughter, I had to focus on truth, the facts, not fantasy.  The facts: she had strept throat, taking medication, swollen ankles, rash, not walking, ER, tests, good test results.  Later: feeling better and home.  Fantasy:  internet search.  I had Jadyn dying of leukemia in three weeks.  I continually had to ask, "What are the facts?"

Philippians 4:8  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (NIV)

To overcome fear, I also had to:

 II.                  Focus on the Plan.

With my daughter, I had to choose a  plan of action.  I needed freedom from fear, or

my inaction would freeze me with fear.

I took these three actions:

           1) Prayer 
          I prayed and called my family to pray, even at 11:00 p.m.  

Philippians 4:6 says,“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

                             2)  Profess Promises

Philippians 4:7 says, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

                      I claimed the promise of peace.  If I would pray with thanksgiving like Philippians 4:6 says, the promise of peace in verse 7 results.  I needed peace to guard my heart and especially my mind.  I experienced the peace beyond what I could understand just as verse 7 promises.   

                                3) Praise

I cranked the music and praised God during the day, sometimes singing at the top of my lungs.  I could not stay fearful when I focused on God, not self.

I'd like to say that is the end of the story.  She came home and we lived happily ever after.  But "happily ever after" stories only happen in fairy tales.  I'll share the rest next time.
 (You may want to sign up by e-mail or join this site, so easy to do.  God Bless!   

What about you?  What action do you need to take with your fears?  Do you need to pray about a situation, instead of fear.  Profess the promise of Philippians 4:6-7 to have peace?  Or praise to place the focus on God?

To continue the story:  Lessons from Last Year's Fear Part III

My Lifegiving Rescue in Light of a Breathtaking Rescue

Remember these pics from 10/13/10 in

Santiago Chile?

          Everyone loves rescue stories: in books, movies, and life.  It’s been a year since over one billion viewers held their breaths as 33 men in Chile, trapped for 69 days, finally surfaced from a collapsed mine a half -mile underground.  The last of the 33men found freedom about 22 hours after the first.  What a miraculous story!  From surviving 17 days without contact with the outside world, surviving on food enough for two days, to surviving the actual assent to freedom, each step of survival amazed the world.

I have a rescue story, too.  Even though my rescue has many similarities to the miners’ rescue, we see one major difference.  Like the miners, I needed a Savior.  However, my need was not for my physical life, but for my spiritual life.

I’m sure the miners thought they could die during several occasions over the sixty-nine day event.  Similarly, I remember as a second grader coming face to face with death as a reality, and even feared death, when I lost three grandparents in six months.  I heard about heaven, vaguely understanding the concept, but knew I wanted to go there when I died.  My parents explained that my grandparents were in heaven after they died.  We last saw each of my grandparents’ bodies at the funeral home.  My youngest sister, four-years-old at the time, thought Baggerly’s Funeral home in Edmond, Oklahoma was actually heaven.  These events made me question my own spiritual condition.  By understanding the other similarities and differences of our rescues, you too, can experience a life giving rescue.

First, understand another difference.  Unlike the miners who knew immediately after the collapse of the mine that they needed help, I originally didn’t understand I needed help.  As a young girl, I thought… I’m a pretty good girl.  I go to church every Sunday with my family; I’ve never murdered anyone, even though I’ve been mad enough at my older brother to kill him J.   I try to be nice to my two younger sisters and older brother, and I usually only hit them if they hit me first.  Well, ok.  I start some of the commotion myself J.   I do the best I can in school.  I think God will love me because I’m not as bad as other people.  But through God’s Word, I learned that my bad actions, bad thoughts, bad attitudes were called sin.  And even one sin was enough to separate me from the perfect God of the Bible.   Because God is perfect, he does not allow sin into heaven.  I may not have been trapped under a mile of rock, but sin trapped me, separating me from God.  I realized I needed to be rescued. I needed a Savior.

Now understand the first similarity:  Just think what would have happened if the miners thought they could escape on their own.  They all would have perished.  I also used to think I could free myself from my sin.  Maybe if I just do enough good things, go to church regularly, give money to the poor, then I could save myself from my sin.  Ephesians 2:8-9  says…For by grace you have been saved through faith and not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works so that no one should boast.  Just as impossible as it would have been for the miners to escape with a small hammer, it is impossible to work our way into heaven.

The second similarity:  The miners didn’t “deserve” to be rescued.  The miners hadn’t “earned the right” to escape.  They merely experienced the new joy because people that loved them wanted them back.  Therefore, people whom they never even met worked to make it happen.  Likewise, I didn’t have to “do” anything to deserve God’s grace.  Only because of God’s love for me did he display His grace to me by rescuing me in spite of my sin.  The Bible says God came and rescued us “while we were sinners”.  We don’t have to make our lives look better and then God will accept us.  He accepts us even when sin traps us.

The third similarity:  Like the miners only had one way out, God gave us one way out.  God sent Jesus.  John 3:16  For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.  John 14:6  "I am the way, the truth, and the life!" Jesus answered. "Without me, no one can go to the Father.  Why would God send His only Son to die for us if there was another way?

The fourth similarity:  For the miners, it was not enough for them to KNOW ABOUT the escape route, but they had to demonstrate their faith by getting into the escape capsule.  How absurd would it have been if the miners decided to stay where they were and not be rescued?  But they did have a choice to escape, or not.  The miners had to place their faith in the rescue effort.  Once they stepped out in faith into the escape contraption, they did not have to put out any effort of their own to ascend to the surface.  They totally relied on their rescuers.

I remember realizing that my grandparents could only go to heaven because of their faith in Jesus.  They each had to decide for themselves if they would believe.  It didn’t matter if they were born to believing parents.  It didn’t matter if they had perfect church attendance.  It didn’t matter if they knew the great stories of the Bible or the nice songs about Jesus.  If they didn’t believe it for themselves, they would have died in their sin, separated from God.

Similarly, one night we had a speaker at our church (a good ole’ revival service).  God helped me understand that I needed to place my faith in Jesus, God’s only rescue effort. The Bible tells us, the penalty for my sin is death, separated from God forever.  But Jesus died in my place. God accepted Jesus’ blood on the cross as a payment for my sin. I told God I trusted Him and wanted to have Jesus save me by forgiving my sin.  Once I trusted in Christ, I turned from my self- effort of escape to rely only on Christ for my escape.  I couldn’t “do” anything else to help my escape.  It was by faith alone that I God rescued me. 

My life giving rescue changed my life that night.  God gave me freedom from trying to be perfect to deserve His love, which I could never do, to resting in what Christ did for me.  God accepted me the way I was, warts and all.  I no longer lived separated from God, but began a relationship/friendship with God.  I no longer fear death because I know that if I were to die, God has made a way for me to go to heaven.  God not only promises heaven after death, but promises to make life on earth worth living.  God gave me purpose in life, to honor Him all my days. 

The final similarity:  Even though the miners went from darkness to light immediately, they still had to adjust their lives to the change.  They wore sun glasses to protect their eyes.  My life also changed from spiritual darkness to light when I asked Jesus to forgive me, but I am continuing to adjust to my new life in Christ.  God isn’t done with me yet.  He’s fixing me, warts and all, to be more like Christ. 

I praise God everyday for my rescue story.  I would be nothing without Christ.  Life would be futile trapped in sin’s dark mine.   You, too, can have a Life giving rescue story.  Have you realized you are trapped?  Are you trying to work your own way out?  Have you accepted God’s only rescue plan, Jesus?  If you have questions, you can call 1-888-JESUS-2000.

Final challenge for those already rescued:  What if only one man in the mine knew the rescue plan, but refused to tell the others about it?  Suppose he left in the middle of the night, leaving the others to perish.  If you know the plan, when was the last time you shared the plan with someone else?

My rescue was only the beginning of my journey.