Trusting Him

Continuing my journey beyond one thousand gifts....

Every day is a gift,
every moment is a blessing,
every life holds a beauty of its own.

Last Monday, a co-worker's daughter tried to commit suicide.

I say "tried to" because she didn't die.

And I am thankful.

The daughter has struggled with life ever since beginning college two years ago. This was her loudest cry for help and she called her mom after swallowing a handful of pills.

I watched my co-worker shaking with fear and frustration and offered to drive her to the Philadelphia hospital while her daughter was being transported by ambulance.

Confession: I have fear while driving to places outside of my immediate area and called Wonderful Husband but had to leave a voicemail explaining what had happened and where I was traveling.

I started saying The Jesus Prayer. Have you heard of it?

Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.

I silently prayed this prayer over and over and felt the calming presence of Christ as I started driving us toward Philadelphia.

We found the hospital and she went in to assess the situation. Her daughter was conscious and my co-worker came out and said her husband was on his way. I asked if she wanted me to wait for his arrival but she told me I could leave. I asked if she had money for food and she said yes. I told her that I'd be praying for her and her daughter and their family and pulled away from the hospital.

When I left the hospital I turned on my CD and the song "Beautiful" began playing by MercyMe.

(Please click the link below to hear the song.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C2o0jHNRuU

How I wish the daughter could have heard these words.

Words of love: how she is treasured, and sacred, and His.

She is more than this moment of her life.

You see, I have compassion for young women struggling through life.

A few years ago our daughter imploded while attending college and living away from home. She layered bad decision on top of bad decision and we couldn't stop her or help her.

Only God can save. And He did.

Yet in the midst of the turmoil, God prepared me because He knew what was coming.

My Word for 2010 was Hope and what it took a year for me to learn was that I couldn't place my hope in a place, different circumstances, or a new situation.

I can only place my hope in the Lord.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13

I have empathy for mothers whose children struggle with life.

Because another lesson I've learned is that I don't have control over my (adult) children. I pray for them and pray that they turn toward God because they can place their hope and trust in Him.


Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
Isaiah 26:4

My Word for 2011 was Grace. God showers me with His grace, I in turn show His grace toward others and because of living the word Grace for that year, my daughter and I have a good relationship today.

Only God could have worked the mess into the goodness we live today.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28

# 1089 - 1096 on my list beyond One Thousand Gifts. I'm thankful for:

1089. the daughter making it to the hospital and living

1090. driving my co-worker to the hospital

1091. Christ's calming presence during our drive to Philadelphia

1092. safe travel to and from the hospital

1093. Wonderful Husband's calm (Blue Tooth) conversation when I began driving home alone

1094. feeling God's comfort through music

1095. our daughter and where she is in life now

1096. God, and my hope and trust in Him

Please pray for people who struggle with living. Their lives are precious to Him.

This post is linked to the Faith Barista Jam with the writing prompt of "Trust"



and

September - October 2012

September 2012

I discovered my love of candy corn

Found a giant spider living outside our home.

And viewed a rainbow from our backyard.

October 2012

Happy yellow mums

Strolling with our granddaughter

Beautiful fall foliage

Superstorm Sandy brought gray and rain

And trees branches split and fell

Yet the month ended with our granddaughter in her hatching chick costume.

A Happy Halloween indeed!

Artichoke Dip

is happiness in a white, round, casserole dish.

Artichoke Dip

1 cup Mozzarella cheese (grated)
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup (Hellman's or Kraft) mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic (pressed)
1 8 oz. can artichoke hearts (drained)

Cut up the artichoke hearts, then combine with all the ingredients.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. (I used a round 24 oz. casserole dish.)

****

The plan was to try-out this new recipe for Wonderful Husband on Friday.

I left work 45 minutes early because of the snow. We've had brutally cold temperatures all week and the prediction was that the snow would be sticking to all road surfaces.

The dinner menu was Artichoke Dip served with Wheat Thins, adult beverages (beer), and relaxing while the snow fell outside at the end of a long week.

Wonderful Husband gave the recipe two thumbs up. Hooray!

The snow shimmered like diamonds.

Yes, an empty nest is a great place to be with warm food and each other.

July - August 2012

July 2012

I began writing a series called "Finding Church." Wonderful Husband and I began visiting different churches and I must admit that I haven't finished the final post of this series. (I guess I had to leave something to write about in the new year!)

I was searching for life application from sermons, stronger leadership, more Christ, and a need/desire to be a part of a new (to me) faith community.

Meanwhile the month looked like this....

Wonderful Husband assisting our neighbor in
balloon removal from his tree.

The family Pig Roast.

A hot air balloon traveling over our home.
(Not the balloons that were stuck in our neighbor's tree.)

August 2012

I felt surrounded by blogs, books, and sermons speaking to me about church. A spiritual month filled with stretching and growing in my faith. 

The Teacher read to his niece.

Had to include her sweet "Fishy Face."

On August 24th, I began reading The One Year Chronological Bible (again). 

Yes, I realize I said August.

"Better late than never" is an encouraging old saying.

It seems very forgiving too.

Some Things

never change.

I wanted to take a video of our granddaughter walking.

You'd think I'd learn that kids don't "perform" just how we want them to...

Did you notice that she starts by crawling then goes into "walk mode?"

She is a blessing and makes me laugh!

Free entertainment people!

May - June 2012

May 2012

A month of pondering what tithing means to me, celebrations with mostly cards for nine birthdays, attending a bridal shower for our future niece-in-law, and my sister got married.

I notice a trend in my taking pictures of
chocolate while attending our
niece-to-be's bridal shower!

June 2012

A month in which we attended a wedding of my friend Terri's son,

Sweetest Wedding Favors Ever:
Pretzel rods dipped in white or dark chocolate!

I read One Perfect Word: One Perfect Word Can Make All the Difference by Debbie Macomber.

We vacationed in South Carolina

and enjoyed days full of sunshine, blue skies, ocean breezes and beach time. Golf for the men. My time spent at the pool, reading Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus by Kyle Idleman, highlighting, contemplative thinking, and relaxing. Thank you South Carolina!

One Word for 2013

This is the fourth year of my choosing a word.
Hope in 2010,
Grace in 2011, 
and
Fellowship in 2012.

I remember as an elementary school-aged child when my mother would suggest writing out my New Year's Resolution(s). I sat down and probably wrote out 20 things because I was all about high numbers back then. A couple items I remember from the list were feed the dog and shine my father's shoes. I probably fed the dog a few times that year, yet not on a regular basis (don't worry, my mother saw that the dog was fed).... but I can guarantee I never shined my father's shoes.

In August of 2012 I began reading The One Year Chronological Bible.

Please understand that what I mean is that I didn't read it from January through July.

And I wish that I could tell you that I finally read through Revelation for the first time in my life.

But I can't tell you that either.

Yet on December 29th (while reading Revelation) I read the following scripture:

Anyone with ears to hear
  should listen and understand.
Anyone who is destined for prison
  will be taken to prison.
Anyone destined to die by the sword
  will die by the sword.
This means that God's holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful.
Revelation 13: 9-10 (NLT)

This means that God's holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus.
Revelation 14: 12 (NLT)

My One Word for 2013: Endure.

At first glance you may think I'm expecting horrible things to happen this year but I have to say that I don't know what 2013 holds for me.

When I was a young adult with young children I could "bank on" certain things happening. Kids going to school, playing sports or musical instruments, vacations in Wildwood, NJ, etc. (In fact last year was the first time in I don't know how many years that we didn't go to Wildwood.)

But the older I become I see life as much shorter, and a gift to be thankful for every day.

en·dure

[en-doo r, -dyoo r]  Show IPA verb, en·dured,en·dur·ing.

verb (used with object)

1.

to hold out against; sustain without impairment or yielding;undergo

2.

to bear without resistance or with patience; tolerate

3.

to admit of; allow; bear

verb (used without object)

4.

to continue to exist; last

5.

to support adverse force or influence of any kind; suffer without yielding; suffer patiently

6.

to have or gain continued or lasting acknowledgment or recognition, as of worth, merit or greatness

from Dictionary.com

I looked up and (ok I admit) I highlighted the words endure and endurance in my Bible, where I read more encouraging scripture about how God's faithful love endures forever (1 Chronicles 16:34), the one who endures to the end will be saved (Matthew 24:13), and about the patient endurance that comes from Christ (2 Thessalonians 3:5).

Yes, I will endure and have endurance in 2013.

I look forward to seeing what God will teach me this year.

As a side note, I read Debbie Macomber's book One Perfect Word: One Word Can Make All the Difference in 2012 and highly recommend it! Great ideas on how to choose a word and work with it throughout the year.

This year I'm linking to these two blogs:

One Word 365


Do you choose a word? If so, please share.