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 😄😄😄.

Too Much To Do

“Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.””

‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭4:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I read an article by Rick Warren this morning. He states: 

“Think of the rubble as the trivial things that waste your time and energy, those things that prevent you from accomplishing what God has called you to do. If you are discouraged, you may need to clear away some of the rubble in your life.”

I have spent my life trying to do three things at once...literally. It was almost a challenge to try to see how many plates I could spin at the same time. A year and a half ago, I retired from my full time job. Because I did not know any other way to live, I tried to put more things in my life so that life would be “normal feeling.” 

I want to digress at this point. I absolutely do not think that a person needs to cancel every event in their life. Many times when people think they are too busy and stressed, they cancel the things they need to keep. 

I think the most common event for people to cancel is going to church and being a part of a community group. The rationale is this a day of rest and relaxation, their only day off. 

Another common thing to cancel is exercise. No time to take care of yourself physically and frees you up for more TV watching. 

Another thing to cancel is serving others. No way for time to observe that God has placed some people in your path that need you. 

Definitely most people cancel having a quiet time with the Lord. We rationalize that God wants us to rest. We cannot wake up earlier and read His incredible word and talk to him about life. 

I have noticed that when people start canceling rubble from the life, the most important things are sometimes the things are dropped first and should be kept. 

To clean out rubble, real trash, means to be able to hear what is rubble and what is not. Nehemiah and his crew got tired...real tired. They did not make time for social media and watching their favorite TV show. 

God gave them wisdom to know who to ignore and what to ignore.

“so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?” Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer.”

‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭6:3-4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I want 2020 to be the year that I plead for wisdom to know the difference. If I lay out my life for God to examine, he would love to reveal to me what is my purpose and what is not. 

Humble Yourselves to Receive Wisdom

“Don’t fool yourselves. Whoever thinks they are wise in this world should become a fool. That’s the only way they can be wise.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭3:18‬ ‭ERV‬‬

I was talking to someone this week and I shared that the only times that Mark and I “get it right” is when we admit we are fools. If you are struggling with a situation with relationships, finances, jobs or whatever...the best thing to do is to cry out to God and tell him how foolish you are.

We have cried out to the Lord and told him that we do not know how to be a parent(even now with grown kids). We have cried out to the Lord and confessed that we do not know how to be a good spouse. We have told the Lord that we do not have wisdom to handle our money. We confessed to God that we do not know to lead our community group at church. The list goes on and on.

When we do this, he says, “Finally you realize that. Finally you are ready for me to lead you and give you the wisdom you need to turn things around.”

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭16:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

He is waiting and looking for those of us who are running after him and depending on him and not ourselves. When he finds you on your knees, crying out to him, he is standing there ready to give you the wisdom you need. If you think you know it all, he will let you believe that.

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
‭‭James‬ ‭4:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

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Don't Cut with a Dull Knife

“But wisdom will make any job easier. It is very hard to cut with a dull knife. But if you sharpen the knife, the job is easier.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭10:10‬ ‭ERV‬‬

By this time in January, most people have forgotten their New Year's resolution. I hope one of your resolutions was to read God's Word everyday. If you are slipping, then there is something to consider.

Reading God's Word is not a checklist. Never was. Never will be. Instead it is a daily seeking the voice of all wisdom and power and pouring out your heart back to Him.

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4:12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We all want wisdom. We want transformation in our lives. Gracious, we want weight loss. We want financial freedom. We want contentment. However, many of us want these things at no cost, instant results, no pain.

"If you sharpen the knife, the job will be easier." By reading God's Word every single day and pleading with God to change you, you are sharpening the knife. The change will not be overnight but it will be easier by using a sharp knife...the word of God.

The enemy wants to lie, deceive and trick you into thinking that a little more sleep is better for you than a quiet time with the Lord. Don't play his game. Don't listen to his lies. He wants to destroy you.

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.

Empty Stables

I have always loved this verse from Proverbs 14. "An empty stable stays clean...but there is no income from an empty stable." It is such a simple concept and yet it speaks to each of us in different ways.
For example, my empty stable could be my home. I have always thought that God is interested in the place that we chose to live. We prayed much over the choice of buying a home when we moved to Texas and know that this particular house was the right choice for us. We have made many changes but one thing has not changed, it is a home for God's use and not ours. If we did not open our home to guests, our carpet would not be stained, our furniture would not sag in the middle, and there would be no scratches on our wood floor. In other words, our empty stable would be clean. But we would miss the harvest that follows. We would miss the opportunity to invest. The whole point of a stable is to provide housing for animals. The whole point of our possessions is to provide things that God can use. How foolish to long for an empty, clean stable that no one has "messed up" or "used up."
For some folks the empty stable could be our calendar. It is a thrill to see more free time in our busy lives. I am not saying that we do not need a time to relax and replenish. I am saying that it is tempting to look at a calendar and want to hoard the time for our own pursuits...our own amusements.
I heard a speaker say that we need to invest our days and not spend our days. I am guilty of spending my day recklessly and not investing my day into things that will count for eternity. Our churches are filled with people that spend their time on themselves and do not invest their time in service. The empty stable to them is a clean calendar, but when there is no messy acts of service(and service does get messy) there is also no eternal rewards. The point of our time is investing in eternal things and not an empty calendar to spend on our time on ourselves. "Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should."
The saddest empty stable is the empty heart. Many people do not take the risk of giving away our heart. It seems safer to keep our distance. We throw ourselves into our jobs, our recreation, or our next meal. We go to great lengths to shield ourselves from pain. But an empty heart yields no income. I realize that getting my heart filled up will be messy and scary. But the income will be worth the mess that is created.
The next time you are tempted to take the safe way of an empty stable, reconsider. An empty stable yields no income, no rewards.