Reign on Me

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 

John 14:26 (NIV)

What is the most important thing about the Holy Spirit?

Power?
Tongues?
Gifts?

I think it is Fellowship. Communing with the Saints.

In my humble opinion, fellowship is the deepest work of God’s Spirit. It is the Spirit of God drawing all of us all of the time into a common life with one another.

The central work of God’s Spirit is that of creating community.

It is also the first thing that I run from when I am ‘out of sorts,’ falling into depression, separated from God because of my willful and stubborn heart.

At times, my life feels so disorganized. It seems as if everything around me is piling up. It’s not just the drawers that need reorganizing, the kitchen or my desk that needs cleaning, or the heap of stuff in the garage that needs sorting—it’s everything: my daily schedule crammed full of tasks, my house crying out for a major cleaning, my office with the overflowing in box and stack of items for filing— even my relationships are disorganized. I feel disjointed, out of control, out of touch, separated from God and those whom I love and fellowship with.

Abba, Father – bring order into my chaos. Help me sort through all the things around me.

Help me see what needs to be kept,
what needs to be thrown away,
and what needs to be changed. . . .

O Holy Spirit, even as I say this, I feel fear. I know that things need to change. I know, deep in my heart, that my life’s disorganization is symptomatic of a deeper disorganization.

I need your gentle breath to blow through my spiritual life. I need your strong wind to sort through the stacks of issues I don’t want to face. I need your quiet presence as I deal with the unspoken prayers, the unfulfilled desires, the unrecognized emotions I have hidden away.

Holy Spirit come now, in this moment, and in the recesses of my heart, begin the process of organization. Begin to sweep out the dark corners, sift through the crammed closets, and blow through all my dark places of my spirit. May You blow through my life every day. Through Your power, bring order into all the chaos around me. ~Amen.

because we’re His,

Stones of Remembrance - redoux!

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:  Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)

I think perhaps this title should have been reserved for my husband's bout with kidney stones!  I'm sure he'd rather forget than to remember all the pain and discomfort he's been experiencing.

On Wednesday, he had a procedure where one of the stones was manually extracted / crushed and a stent was placed.  He experienced a lot of pain and couldn't or wouldn't be released from the out patient clinic until he had been able to 'go potty.'  This process began at 5:30 a.m. and we were there until 3:00 p.m.

The doctor came to the surgical waiting room and spoke with me after the procedure. Basically he told me he had crushed and removed most of the 7 mm kidney stone. Then a stent was placed from his kidney to his bladder. The doctor told me how to remove the stent on Friday.  WHAT??? YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT???  YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT???

In the mean time, Dennis was taking his pain medication every six hours.  We stayed in Tucson an extra day, just in case we needed to return to the hospital, then returned home Thursday afternoon / early evening.  Early on Friday morning, I called our local family doctor and scheduled an appointment. The soonest one could be had was at 3:50 p.m.  By noon, Dennis asked me to try and remove the stent as he was having such discomfort.  PANIC!!!   I am not a medical professional and I believe some things should not be tried at home! 

I washed my hands as if preparing for a surgical theater, then removed the tape holding the surgical thread in place, wrapped the thread around my first three fingers and did exactly as the doctor had described - pulled firmly out.  VIOLA!   Just a smooth as could be the stent came out and Dennis experienced immediate relief.  Short lived, but relief for the moment!

Just so you know, I have no illusions or delusions of entering the medical field - it is a wise person who knows their limitations!

When we were married 33 years ago and we wrote our own vows, but incorporated the 'for better / for worse' portion of the traditional marriage ceremony.  Thus far we've seen:

for better for worse

for richer for poorer

in sickness and in health

And he's seen me through 'thick and thin' too!  Yes, it's true... I've expanded my horizons.

Marriage, it's not for sissies or the self absorbed.  In all honesty, there have been times I've wanted to 'opt out', walk away, sometimes run and never return.  But the truth of the matter is this:  Love is not a feeling.  It is an act of volition.  I can think of no one else I would want to be there with me at the end of my life. To hold my hand, to utter prayers on my behalf or vice versa.

I don't think young persons today understand that there are seasons to marriage, such as there are seasons to life.  It starts out with all the passion and emotions of new love, but eventually that takes a step back and the season of nurturing children and making a living comes to the forefront. Oh, there's still the flicker of the flame of passion, but not like in the beginning.  Seasons change.  Priorities change. And the love that began seems so superficial now in comparison to the deeper, richer relationship that has grown over the course of years.

Forgiveness, respect and a good sense of humor are a big part of the marriage relationship, too.  We've learned to not use each other as the brunt of jokes for others amusement.  We each have our own set of emotions the other cannot experience or fathom. We are different - male and female and we feel things differently. That does not mean that one is more superior than another, merely different.

And so it goes... the good, the bad, and the ugly!  For better, for worse... for richer, for poorer... in sickness and in health... until death do we part!  Oh yes, thick and thin, too.

Stones of Remembrance

Genesis 28:17-19 New American Standard Bible

17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” 18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top. 19 He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz.

In the old testament scriptures, stones were set out as a memorial for something important and as noted above, Jacob poured oil on the top of the stone.  He anointed it. 

Today, I too have anointed my stone of remembrance.  It has been two years since the heart attack and the same amount of time since I've had a cigarette.  All my recent lab work came back within good ranges. My cholesterol levels are within range and it has been one year since I've taken any 'heart' medications. I only take a low dose aspirin daily.  I'm sure I'll be seeing the cardiologist soon, I'm just waiting to see when they set it up. I'll probably need the dreaded stress test - so aptly named.

Now, before this begins to sound like 'happily ever after' I do confess to having bouts of really wanting to smoke a cigarette. But I don't, thank God. I simply think back to the quality time I spent with Jesus in the MedEvac helicopter and the first two weeks of going cold turkey. I don't want to have to do that again, ever!

The exercise has gone by the wayside and it shows. I need to begin a walking regime again. I did have an occasion where I was transported to the hospital from work - a bit of a fainting spell. Alright, two - I had two near episodes where I had to lay down on the floor before I fell down.  The verdict was dehydration and low protein levels. 

I was going great guns on trying to become vegetarian.  Too well, evidently.  So the carnivore in me has reemerged. But tempered. I'm also using a protein powder and making healthy smoothies with frozen berries, vanilla yogurt and a banana thinned out with orange juice!

On Wednesday of this week, my husband will be having a procedure to manually extract a 12 mm kidney stone. As I understand it, they will try to break it into a manageable size and then place a stent in his kidney. Eventually the stent will need to be removed.

We, the aging Baby Boomers are having health concerns! Thank God for medical insurance and the ability for me to take time off work to assist Dennis with his issues.

And so I pray:

Abba, Father ~thank You for Your provisions and for Your grace.  Thank You for allowing us the privelidge of living where we do and for the benefits provided through my employment. Be with us as we begin to experience health concerns and issues. In Jesus' name I pray ~AMEN!

because we're His,