Brain Surgery

“We have small troubles for a while now, but these troubles are helping us gain an eternal glory. That eternal glory is much greater than our troubles. So we think about what we cannot see, not what we see. What we see lasts only a short time, and what we cannot see will last forever.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:17-18‬ ‭ERV‬‬

I love, love this verse. I love living with eternity in mind and not living for the 80 or so short years that we are going to live. The Lord is revealing  a small trouble in Mark and mine’s lives. 

I have been wondering why my brain has been “freezing” up for 30 seconds spans.This has been been going on for at least 5 years. I went to a neurologist about three years ago and he convinced me that I was too busy and stressed. When I retired, these problems would disappear. 

When I retired about a year and half ago, I noticed that the problems were increasing. Interesting. My sweet sisters noticed at thanksgiving that my mouth was drooping on one side. They said that they would nag me until I saw a neurologist again. I went to my regular doctor and he noticed I was talking with a lisp. He scheduled an MRI. 

Wow! This saved my life. I have a slow growing, large tumor that is pressing into my brain. Even though this is scary, it finally makes sense. Even more important, there is a medium sized aneurysm growing in my brain. It would have gone unnoticed and could be deadly, if not fixed. 

Mark and I want this to bring fame to our sweet Heavenly Father. He is so kind. I am not fearing the outcome but it looks promising. If one person that reads this will hear the Lord speaking to their heart, what a blessing that would be. He created you for a purpose, bigger than what you thought. This small life here is the temporary part. There is eternal part that you need to decide about.

 January 13th is first surgery to remove the tumor. The second surgery will be a few weeks after to fix the aneurysm. Thank you for those prayers. I’m ready for this 😄😄😄.

The King Adores You

““Now listen, daughter, don’t miss a word: forget your country, put your home behind you. Be here —the king is wild for you. Since he’s your lord, adore him. Wedding gifts pour in from Tyre; rich guests shower you with presents.””
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭45:10-12‬ ‭MSG‬‬

I love the month of June! My Bible reading plan always brings me to Psalms in June.

This particular set of verses is good advice for a woman approaching marriage. The writers, the sons of a Koran, advised the young woman to leave behind her ties to her country and her family and adore her husband. The Psalms is warning her to come into the relationship with intentionality. On the wedding day, her husband is wild for her. To keep that love alive, she must give up some things, put some stuff behind her.

Even now after 39 years, I am constantly fighting against my selfishness and my desire to put myself first. When I fight to keep my needs at the front, Mark is less likely to adore me. I need to put some stuff behind me. He likes me a whole lot better when I stop trying to be first and fight for my needs to be met over his.

However, these verses are about so much more than marriage. It is describing our relationship with Christ. When we come into a relationship with Jesus, we have to intentionally leave behind our past. We have to come into this new incredible marriage with our Savior, giving up all of us(our country) and letting Him be the Lord and King.

If we continue to put our desires first and not die to ourselves, He will still adore us, but we lose the whole point. We keep trying to bring our past country. We need to enter into the relationship bringing nothing because we have nothing to offer. Absolutely nothing! He adores us and He does everything.

When we need a reset button, as my sister calls it, we reset by dying to ourselves and letting Christ take over. We can't do anything to help ourselves. The enemy tells us we can by working harder. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we begin to walk back into wide open spaces. Today is the best day to quit trying to fix ourselves. We can't.

“If you do these things, your light will begin to shine like the light of dawn. Then your wounds will heal. Your “Goodness” will walk in front of you, and the Glory of the Lord will come following behind you.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭58:8‬ ‭ERV‬‬

What does your soil look like today?

"Listen. What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled among the weeds and nothing came of it. Some fell on good earth and came up with a flourish, producing a harvest exceeding his wildest dreams. (Mark 4:3 MSG)

One of my favorite things to do is to plant flowers! I love when it is time to go and buy some old favorites and try a couple of new kinds of plants, as well. I am saying the obvious when I state that the soil needs to be dark and rich and loose. You just know when you plant that flower in that rich soil,  that as long as you supply the water, it will be amazing.

God is continuing to throw out seeds(his word) to us. We read the Bible, we listen to podcasts, we buy books, we read devotionals, we hear great wisdom from friends...you name it. The problem is not  that the word is weak and powerless, but the soil is not the best. Sometimes I read the most amazing scripture in the morning and as soon as I read it, I do not even remember what I read. Other times, I read it and I am excited but my heart is gravelly because of complacency in my walk with the Lord and my lack of character. So it never puts down a root, when a difficulty arrives.

I especially saddened by the soil cast in weeds.

“but their lives become full of other things: the worries of this life, the love of money, and everything else they want. This keeps the teaching from growing, and it does not produce a crop in their lives.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭4:19‬ ‭ERV‬‬

I want to have the kind of soil that when I hear the word, and the word will be perfect and powerful and just and true, I want to embrace the truth and produce a harvest beyond my wildest dreams. The problem will not be with the seed but with my soil.

Make the Best Decision For Your Life Today

Mark and I are driving home from Body Pump. It's a strength training class that we attend three times a week. Mark was reminding me that it seems that everyone wants to get in shape. However, not many want to show up. They just want to talk about it.

Same thing with growing in our relationship in Christ. We all desire it- as long as we don't have to show up each morning and spend time with the Lord. We just want to talk about it. To grow stronger in any area requires an action... a daily, purposeful action.

Begin everyday with prayer and reading God's word. I made that decision maybe 40 years ago and I am so thankful that God gave me the good sense to do this. This decision has impacted every other decision I have made. Start small, be consistent and you won't believe how it change your life years from now. If you keep putting this off for a better, more convenient time you will wake up one day 40 years from now and realize that this also impacted every decision you made.