Home Archives for cancer

How To Respond When Labeled a “Christian Nationalist”!

4

This isn’t the first time I’ve discussed Christian Nationalism. In August 2022, I wrote They Called Jesus and His Followers Names Too! — Woman to Woman Mentoring. The difference now is that when they first began slandering Christians who love God, family, and country, they racialized it with “White Christian Nationalism” in an attempt to link us with their definition of “White Supremacy.” They’ve dropped “white” because people of all colors are rejecting the Marxism infiltrating our country, families, schools, and unfortunately, even some churches.

There’s an adversarial undercurrent of anti-Christian religiophobia bleeding into a country founded on Judeo/Christian values, morals, and principles. Like many other terms liberal progressives originate, they define and vilify “Christian nationalism.” As liberals, progressives, and atheists attempt to change history, the Constitution, and the morals of America, we must restore and protect the threatened rights and values of Christians for the betterment of the Nation.

Christ called the church and every Christian to occupy until He returns. We can’t sit in the bleachers while God is removed from the public square, children indoctrinated and mutilated, and immorality becomes the law of the land. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. Luke 19:13 (KJV)

The church cannot remain neutral. We’re way beyond the era of neutrality. The church has the answers to the evils of our time, but their deafening silence implies consent and complacency in the face of blatant attacks on Christianity and Jesus.

God doesn’t require only some of us to be bold and brave (Josh. 1:9). He wants every Christian to take action no matter what names or insults the enemy slings! You don’t have to receive the insults. Hold up your shield of faith to stop and extinguish the fiery darts and arrows of the devil. (Eph. 6:16)

We all have a right and responsibility to vote our biblical convictions to support candidates who share our values. That means Christ-followers need to participate in the political process because everything has become politicized. Politics has invaded the moral arena of the church, and the church must stand its ground and invade politics. That’s constitutional. Our founding fathers didn’t create a solely Christian nation, but they saw the value in a God-inspired nation.

The false narrative hyped by the manufactured term ‘Christian nationalism’ is that Christians are promoting the belief that the United States should exclusively be governed by and for the benefit of Christians. This is a crafty sly attempt of Satan to discourage Christians from becoming involved in politics.

Case in point—POLITICO reporter, Heidi Przybyla, recently went on MSNBC and claimed that Christians who believe our rights are derived from God are “Christian nationalists.” She claimed this didn’t represent all Christians, just the “extremist element.” Here’s her comments that fortunately generated loud and abundant pushback: “The things that unite them as Christian nationalists—not Christians, by the way, because Christian nationalist is very different—is that they believe that our rights as Americans, as all human beings, don’t come from any earthly authority. They don’t come from Congress. They don’t come from the Supreme Court. They come from God.” [Imagine that!]

“The problem” she continued, “is that they, man, men, [as she gleefully smiles to the men she’s talking to] are determining what God is telling them and in the past that so-called natural law is a pillar of Catholicism for instance it’s been used for good in social justice campaigns. Martin Luther King Jr. evoked it in talking about civil rights, but now you have an extremist element of conservative Christians who say that this applies specifically to issues including abortion, gay marriage, and it’s going much further than that.”

She labeled “conservative Christians” as extremists! What Bible-believing Christian isn’t conservative? She exemplified her ignorance of Christianity while attempting to divide Christians. They know if we stay united in the belief that Our God Reigns, we’ll have more power to keep our country on the right moral track. But they’re winning this spiritual battle for good versus evil because sadly, one in three Christians don’t vote! Only 37% of pastors have a biblical worldview. 62% have a hybrid worldview. Let that sink in. That’s exactly why our country is on a fast track away from the plans God had, and has, for our nation.

Heidi Przybyla’s ridiculous commentary depicts how those slinging arrows at Christians not only don’t understand Christianity, they’re ignorant regarding the documents that guide our nation, starting with The Declaration of Independence, which declares:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The founding fathers understood that if government grants rights, government could also take them away. But if our fundamental rights are ultimately derived from God, no government could remove them. Our nation’s forefathers knew that freedom wouldn’t work without the underpinning of biblical morality. Today, our nation’s foundation is eroding because we’re a nation moving away from the Bible and God and replacing Him with government.

God is and will always be the head of the government, no matter who sits in the White House. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Is. 9:6

“It’s the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favors.”—George Washington

God used courageous men who said if we die, we die, to write our nation’s founding documents, largely influenced by their pastor’s sermons! George Washington, our first President, took his oath with one hand on a Bible, raised his right hand, and added to the oath “so help me God.” When the oath was finished, he knelt over and kissed the Bible. Yet, many are allowed to tear down statues of Washington or change the names of schools that bore his name. The undercurrent of Satanism and Marxism.

We should unashamedly embrace being a Christian and an American in this great Nation. Otherwise, the same thing will happen to our country as happens to your body if you ignore a cancer within it.

Dr. David Jeremiah writes in “Turning Points Magazine” February 2024, “We hear the phrase ‘halls of power’ mentioned in political discussions, referring to the domains of government authorities. Within those walls, deals and decisions are made which gives the impression of power—the ability to direct the destinies of people and nations. But true power resides with God not men. As Daniel expressed in Babylon, ‘Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and [power] are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings’ (Daniel 2:20-21).”

And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of his might power. Eph. 1:19

If you haven’t seen the documentary “Letter to the American Church, I encourage you to go to www.lettertotheAmericanchurch.com to see if a church in your area is showing it and/or find out how to show it for free in your church or group. On April 12, MyFaithVotes is doing another watch party at 3pm or 9pm ET. Register here.

Dave and I are going to watch it for the second time. You’ll see how closely America today parallels Hitler’s takeover in Europe when only 1/3 of the churches realized what was happening. When the complacent or indifferent 2/3rds finally woke up, it was too late. We’re in a window where we can make a difference, and that’s why we can’t be bothered or worried about the names and labels they try to put on us to slow us down, even though people like “Meathead” shamefully try to compare Christians to Nazi’s. We need to pray for that lost deceived soul.

Today, we’re free. Tomorrow, we might not be if we become fearful, intimidated, or self-censored by those with wicked motives to silence and cancel us. Remember, the purpose behind this smear campaign is to intimidate Christians from sharing their faith, political views, running for office, and voting. We must never let them win this evil hate campaign.

How To Respond to Christian Nationalism Slurs

Often our first reaction, at least mine, is to go on the defensive against attacks on my faith or patriotism. But the best way to respond to any challenge is with questions that either put the slanderer off guard or cause them to think. Don’t be surprised however if they don’t answer your questions, but instead try to divert the conversation to another one of their talking points. Even so, hold your ground and never deny or apologize for your faith or political position.

 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. 2 Tim. 1:7-8

Here are some suggested responses that open a door for sharing your faith when you’re called a Christian nationalist.

  • Ask: “Yes, I’m a Christian. What are you?”
  • If they stumble, or even if they say they’re a Christian, then ask: “What does being a Christian mean to you?” That allows you to share the true biblical Gospel if they don’t understand Christianity.
  • After you explain the gospel, ask: “Why would you have a problem with me sharing the life-saving message of Christianity?”

Next, tackle nationalism.

  • “Did you know that God is a nationalist of Heaven with boundaries, entrance requirements, and the government rests upon His shoulders?
  • “Yes, I’m blessed to be a citizen with the freedoms and rights of this great Nation. Aren’t you proud to be an American and live in this country too, or is there somewhere else you’d rather live?”
  • Did you know that America was founded on biblical roots and principles?
  • America has been the light on the hill for other nations. If we don’t succeed by holding strong to our national values, what other country in the world is going to come and rescue us like we rescue so many other nations?
  • Yes, I’m a patriotic Christian like Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, and Martin Luther King Jr. Do you have a problem with them?

The Prayer Heard Around the World

You’ve probably heard by now about California Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, who Speaker of the House Mike Johnson invited to give the invocation prayer to open Congress on January 30, 2024. Speaker Mike Johnson is a Christian who himself opened Congress in prayer when he became Speaker and unequivocally pronounced that he holds a biblical worldview. As the uproar ensued, he never backed down from that statement. I pray for him every day because it’s evident God has him there for a purpose.

In his prayer, Pastor Hibbs called for “Humility and repentance of national sins in a time of great need.” He also closed his prayer in the Name of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, which he said several times. You can hear and watch Pastor Hibbs read and discuss the prayer @ The Prayer Heard ‘Round the World (youtube.com).

Twenty-six members of Congress were incensed at Pastor Hibb’s prayer and wrote a letter to Speaker Johnson accusing Hibbs of being “an ill-qualified hate preacher who was pushing a “Christian nationalist agenda.” The opening paragraph read, “Pastor Hibbs is a radical Christian nationalist who helped fuel the January 6th insurrection.” Of course, that wasn’t an insurrection and Pastor Hibbs had nothing to do with January 6th but in their attacks, they hurled slurs and slander as the letter went on to blast his character saying the pastor “has a long record of spewing hateful vitriol toward non-Christians, immigrants and members of the LGBTQ community. He should never have been granted the right to deliver the House’s opening prayer on Jan. 30, 2024.”

Who knew prayer could have such a reaction from those who don’t even believe in God and prayer?!

Praise God, Pastor Hibbs hasn’t acquiesced or apologized as so many others do when attacked for sharing the truth. Instead, with his typical good humor, he said in a statement to Fox News, “I’m quite impressed, as I didn’t know I had such power. This is just part of their way of labeling and is void of fact.” 

He also said in California pastor Jack Hibbs answers Democrat critics of his prayer to Congress, “when these progressives speak about ‘radical Christian nationalists,’ they’re using verbiage reminiscent of the rise of the Third Reich under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. Hitler, as well as communists, Marxists and socialists, are known to label and vilify those who disagree with their ideologies.”

In the same article, theologian, author and speaker Dr. Alex McFarland, based in North Carolina, said that Christian nationalism is a phrase that the left more or less coined to strike fear in the hearts of liberals to equate it almost as terrorism. Yet McFarland said, “I love God. I love my country. If that makes me a Christian nationalist … I’m proud to be one.”

Hibbs agreed, saying, “The fact is that a Christian nationalist is a Christian who happens to live in a nation … Jeremiah 29:7 says that you should ‘seek the welfare of the city in which I have planted you for the betterment of all.’”

On a “Lighthouse Faith” podcast, Pastor Hibbs reacted to the Democrats’ accusations, saying, “You know, I was honored to pray. And what a lot of people don’t realize is that … two thirds of my prayer was simply lifted, in part, from ancient prayers, so to speak, from 1774.” He was referring to the First Prayer of the Continental Congress given by the Rev. Jacob Duche, rector of Christ Church of Philadelphia, on Sept. 7, 1774.

Pastor Hibbs is author of “Daze of Deception: How to Discern Truth from Culture’s Lies,” based on a sermon series he preached in his church. He makes no excuses for being a Christian with orthodox biblical beliefs and love of America. 

Hold the Line and Let Us Worship Leader, Sean Feucht summarizes well, “I refuse to cede defining “Christian Nationalist” to those who weaponize and politicize the dictionary. If you can’t properly define what a woman is, you lose the right to define “Christian Nationalist. . . The insidious use of language by the left goes deeper than that. This is not simply name calling. It’s the left’s attempt at voter suppression. A Believer too discouraged to vote is a victor for the left THAT’s their goal. Power.” Defining “Christian Nationalism”

Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. Matt. 16:18 NLT

Here’s another article you might enjoy. Let’s Talk About Politics and Religion – The Stream

If you want to know more about becoming a praying Action Prayer Partner with My Faith Votes go to My Faith Votes | Join United. We Pray. Weekly Prayer Calls.

I always appreciate your comments here and will reply.

March 18, 2024
Return to top of page

4 Prayers for When You’re Hurting, Mad, or Sad!

0

It’s hard listening to the lies, corruption, and political injustice coming out of Washington D.C. without feeling angry, betrayed, or maybe even hopeless about the fate of our beautiful country. We’re watching the destruction of moral values and biblical principles our country was founded on and that helped us flourish as the world leader now seemingly being destroyed by our Marxist tyrannical government. It reinforces how important Christian and Conservatives’ votes are because if we didn’t have a majority in Congress all the corruption and lies would’ve never been exposed.

If you’ve seen the movie Sound of Freedom, you know our country has the highest rate in the world of child trafficking with cartels controlling our borders. You feel sick, sad, mad, helpless, and depressed wondering as we all said when we walked out of the theater, “What can we do to stop this?” We beg God to please help these children who our government is turning a blind eye to as they allow illegals and bad people to flood our borders using the “back door” instead of the “front door” into our country.

The President and Democrats show no compassion for children as they try to indoctrinate them into perverse sexual practices in the classroom, codify killing babies in the womb, and ignore child trafficking. I can say with certainty people condoning this evil will never see heaven but will spend eternity in hell.  I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17

Jesus said, “4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” Matt. 18:4-6

If you’ve read 1st and 2nd Kings, which I referred to in last week’s blog, Loving God and America is “Dangerous” in 2023, there was always a bad king, then a good king, then a bad king who undid and overturned all the good of the previous king, which in some cases was his father.

Can a corrupt throne be allied with you—a throne that brings on misery by its decrees? 21 The wicked band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. 22 But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge. 23 He will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness; the Lord our God will destroy them. Ps. 94:20-23

Sin motivates depravity motivated by power, money, pride, self-indulgence, disregard for others, convenience, acquisition, greed . . . me, myself, and I doing what feels good. Men and women wanting to be their own gods just like we saw in the tower of Babel.  Do you feel sometimes like you just want to give up?

Well Habakkuk felt like that too, but I encourage you to read Chapter 2 in the Book of Habakkuk. Here’s the link to The Message translation where God so clearly describes a world like we’re living in today. Habakkuk prayed, “What’s God going to say to my questions? I’m braced for the worst. I’ll climb to the lookout tower and scan the horizon. I’ll wait to see what God says, how he’ll answer my complaint.” (2:1)

Praise God, Habakkuk didn’t give up and as long as the Lord gives us breath, we can’t give up either. We pray and wait as Habakkuk did. For me, I pray for God to use my writings and life for His glory, but you don’t have to be a writer to share God’s truths in our current depraved culture. You can pray and live a righteous life for others to emulate until the Lord returns!

And then God answered: “Write this.
    Write what you see.
Write it out in big block letters
    so that it can be read on the run.
This vision-message is a witness
    pointing to what’s coming.
It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait!
    And it doesn’t lie.
If it seems slow in coming, wait.
    It’s on its way. It will come right on time. (Hab. 2:2-3)

Many of you experience hurts beyond world events, or maybe brought on by current events and our detestable culture. Your own private world might seem under attack. I want to use the rest of this blog to pray for and with you. I hope you’ll feel comfort and inspiration from the Lord as you wait, pray, and listen.

4 Prayers for Difficult Times

In Dear God, They Say It’s Cancer and Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter: Hope, Help & Encouragement for Hurting Parents, I encourage the reader to personalize Scripture as if God wrote it just for them. We can do the same when we pray for someone hurting or for ourselves. We don’t always need to come up with the perfect words because God already has. You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry. (Ps. 10:17)

 People don’t need us to fix things. When they’re hurting, they want a shoulder to cry on, an arm around their shoulder, and company in the darkness of their soul. There might be a time later when we can sit down over a cup of coffee and help them work through details of their situation, but for the moment, they just need to feel God’s closeness and comfort in and through us.

Here are 4 prayers to help guide you in praying with people for specific situations, or if you’re in this situation, please personalize and pray for yourself.

Prayer for Those Grieving

Father, we pray for those suffering the loss of a loved one or someone close to their heart or even a beloved animal. The hurt runs so deep and grief so all encompassing, their mourning is palpable. They’re inconsolable: “You have taken away my companions and loved ones. Darkness is my closest friend.” (Ps. 88:18 NLT)

While they celebrate a life that’s hopefully now in Your loving arms, they’re left alone wondering how their life can go on without this precious person. Only You Lord can bring light back into their life and wipe away the tears. “You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.” (Ps. 18:28 NLT)

You promise someday mourning will turn to dancing and we’ll dance together before Your thrown. Lord, only You can fill the void left in a broken heart. Only You understand the depth of grief and pain. Only You can help the grieving ever smile again. Father, please flood their mind and heart with sweet memories when thoughts wander into hopelessness and the pain seems overwhelming, especially on birthdays and holidays.

Remind the grief-stricken that Psalm 116:15 (NLT) assures, “The Lord cares deeply when his loved ones die.” You, Lord, care deeply when we’re sad. “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle You have recorded each one in your book.” (Ps. 56:8 NLT)

Help those with immeasurable sorrow to hold onto the truth that after a little while, those who know You as Savior will be united again. Until then, hold each one close in Your loving arms. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” (Ps. 116:15) Amen

Prayer for When Disaster Hits

Heavenly Father, You promise “The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” (Ps. 9:9) You know the trouble that surrounds anyone experiencing a disaster when everything seems bleak. Help them trust that You will show a way out of this dark hole when there seems to be no visible way. Guide the many decisions, show the paths to take in moving forward when they just want to sit down in despair and cry.

You knew hard times would come and You will use this disaster to accomplish Your perfect will in their life. Give them courage not to fear the future with You by their side. Help them remember, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam, let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!” (Ps. 46:1-3 NLT)

Bring those to their side to help by showing Your love in tangible ways that express, “My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows.” (Hosea 11:8 NLT) Amen

Prayer for Health or Mental Illness

Dear Lord, let our hearts hurt and cringe with those who have received a harsh diagnosis or are in the throes of a painful illness. Remove platitudes and trite comments from our mouth and give us an ear to hear and feel their pain. Father, even if we’ve had a similar illness, we can’t fully understand their experience. Give us a kind, caring, and loving presence to let them pour out their heart.

Father, You promise in Joshua 1:5 that You will never leave or forsake us, so we pray Your presence surrounds anyone with an illness whether in the doctor’s office, the hospital, or the sick bed at home. Provide friends or family to hear their cries of pain and soothe their trembling body from fear or symptoms.

We pray Lord for the physicians and medical professionals they encounter in their journey who are a healing balm for this time of sorrow and pain. We thank You in advance for providing the human comfort and the Holy Spirit’s constant soothing for physical, emotional, and spiritual pain. You, Lord, are the Great Healer, the Great Jehovah Rapha. Only You can ease pain. Healing comes from Your power working through doctors, treatments, and medication, but we pray You won’t give anyone more than they can bear.

Provide those who are suffering with constant comfort and peace knowing, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” (Is. 41:10 NLT) Amen

Prayer for Loss of a Job or Provision

Lord, it’s devastating not being able to provide financially for family or loves ones. Fear of the unknown of what to do next to find a new job is overwhelming. Many are in this position today. It’s paralyzing and depressing.

Father, we pray for doors to open. This loss might be a time to pursue new opportunities. Please provide wisdom, direction, courage, and humbleness to reach out for help in the interim and let others be responsive. “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” (1 John 3:17)

You tell us to be aware of those in need, that the body of Christ is benevolent and ready to help our fellow brother and sisters, so please surround those in economic loss with others who have extra to share. “If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord—and he will repay you!” (Pr. 19:17 NLT)

Guide everyone in this situation to seek help. It’s humbling, but You love when we’re humble. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.” (James 4:10 NLT) Provide employment, replace lost possessions, and help families pull together not be pulled apart. “Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.” (Ps. 10:17 NLT)

Please Heal Our Country!

The promises of God are far more powerful than the sins of people. So, Lord, we humbly claim Your promises and pray in unison as Your people that we would do our part to heal our land. 14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. (2 Chronicles 7:14-15) Amen

We all need prayers, and when we see those prayers answered, God wants us to reach back and help others who are going through something similar. Today, we pray for those who are hurting and someday we hope that others will pray for us. It’s God’s way and plan for His people.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. (2 Cor. 1:3-4 NLT)

We never know if God is going to heal our hurts and problems here or in our heavenly home, but He does promise for all who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior that . . .

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Rev. 21:3-4

Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters] Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 1 Peter 3:8 NLT

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Ps. 34:18 NLT

“But oh! God is in his holy Temple! Quiet everyone—a holy silence. Listen!” Habakkuk 2:20 The Message

Portions of the above prayers appeared in my Crosswalk article 4 Comforting Sympathy Prayers for Those Who Are Hurting, May 13, 2021

Please leave a comment here. I reply to all comments and enjoy reading your thoughts.

August 14, 2023
Return to top of page

Christmas Isn’t About a Tree; It’s About God’s Love

0

You may have read the title to this blog and said, “Of course, I know that!”

I love having my grandchildren help us decorate our Christmas tree and I especially enjoy the lights. Hubby puts the lights on a timer so they come on in the morning before I wake up and go off at night after I’m in bed. I wake up to our beautiful lit tree and enjoy it until I put my head on the pillow at night.

So this blog is not a discussion of whether or not Christians should have Christmas trees. As long as we’re not worshipping our tree but instead worshipping our Lord, Christmas trees bring joy and beauty to our festive celebration of the birth of Jesus.

What I do want to talk about is the recent trend by evil deranged people burning down Christmas trees. Several well-meaning media reporters equated the burning of the trees as an attack on Christians because Christmas is a Christian holiday. I think it’s a stretch to think the arsonists were going after Christianity, but I did appreciate that the newscasters were emphasizing that Christmas is a Christian celebration.

But at the same time, there was a subtle implication that Christmas trees signify a Christian Christmas. Burning down a Christmas tree is a sick twisted even satanic crime, but a decorated tree doesn’t represent our faith. Our faith is in the birth, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Christmas I went through radiation for breast cancer, we didn’t have a Christmas tree. I didn’t have the energy to put one up, but we did set up a mini manger scene. A friend brought us some hay from the feed store, we laid a baby doll wrapped in a blanket on top of it and put stuffed animals all around. That’s where we placed our presents.

For years after, we set up the manger scene along with a Christmas tree. It helped display the real meaning of Christmas to the grandchildren and anyone who visited us.

Make no mistake, Christianity is under attack by the liberal secular cult of “wokeness,” and that is something we do need to be aware of and resist. It doesn’t usually present itself in the form of burning flames that we can visually see but in a new religion of man-made “social justice” rules founded on various groups’ definition of how we should live, not on how God and the Bible designed for us to live.

If we’re not careful, their “statement of woke faith” can begin to creep into our own thinking as we start using their language, terms, and subjecting ourselves to their atheistic beliefs, which oppose and reject God.

In an article “Where ‘woke’ came from and why marketers should think twice before jumping on the social activism bandwagon,” Andrew Sullivan was quoted on what he wrote about woke social awareness as an equal but opposing position to Evangelical Christianity:

And so the young adherents of the Great Awokening exhibit the zeal of the Great Awakening […] they punish heresy by banishing sinners from society or coercing them to public demonstrations of shame […] We have the cult of social justice on the left, a religion whose followers show the same zeal as any born-again Evangelical.

In an article by Jose Gomez, How Should Christians Respond to the Challenge of Wokeness, Gomez wrote, “secularization means ‘de-Christianization.’ For years now, there has been a deliberate effort in Europe and America to erase the Christian roots of society and to suppress any remaining Christian influences.

“In your program for this Congress, you allude to ‘cancel culture’ and ‘political correctness.’ And we recognize that often what is being cancelled and corrected are perspectives rooted in Christian beliefs — about human life and the human person, about marriage, the family, and more.

“In your society and mine, the ‘space’ that the Church and believing Christians are permitted to occupy is shrinking. Church institutions and Christian-owned businesses are increasingly challenged and harassed. The same is true for Christians working in education, health care, government, and other sectors. Holding certain Christian beliefs is said to be a threat to the freedoms, and even to the safety, of other groups in our societies.”

What Can Christians Do to Avoid Wokeness

1. Don’t use their terminology.

I heard Mario Murillo speaking on how Satan is using wokeness to infiltrate our language. The example he used was “transgender.” This is not a word or a concept we would find in the Bible, and we know it’s unbiblical because God only made male and female. He does not create anyone trans or gay. I would add fabricated terms like “gender fluidity” “gender identity” “nonbinary ” “gender confusion” again are words and concepts with no legitimate substance or credible meaning because our Creator God is not the God of confusion. If anyone is confused, where do we as Christians know they should turn? To God and the Bible.

Yet, we as Christians probably find ourselves falling into the trap of using the same language as the woke cult instead of confirming what we know to be true. Why would we do this when they certainly do not use our language in fact their mission is to destroy Christianity because we are anti everything they are for.­­­­

2. Share the Truth in Love

Christmas is a perfect time of year for Christians to proclaim loud and clear what we believe and know to be true: Jesus came into the world as a baby to be our Savior from the sin that so easily entangles us in this world. He came to call sinners, which is everyone, to repentance. He came to seek and save the lost and give His life as a ransom for all who would believe in Him.

With love and joy we can share that Good News. We pray for those who are lost because we know that all things are possible with God. We don’t enable sin but help the broken and broken-hearted to find healing.

We’re never ashamed of what we believe, we don’t compromise or succumb to the world’s ways or give credence to their misconceptions and misguidedness. We pray that God will give us wisdom to live for Him in every area of our life. When people encounter us, they should see the pure love of God. Our every action, thought, and response motivated by love because God is love and God lives in us.

We celebrate CHRISTmas boldly, bravely, and broadly whether or not we put up a Christmas tree. We love our neighbor, praise God for forgiving our sins, and prepare for the imminent Day of His return. Christmas is God’s answer to the Fall. Christmas is redemption. Jesus came to earth to show us the way of love. The Devil can’t manifest in the presence of God’s love.

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 1 John 4:7-12, 17

Here is another interesting article about Christians and wokeness. How Should Christians Think About “Wokeness”? (frc.org)

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here. I answer every comment.

December 13, 2021
Return to top of page

How to Celebrate a Peaceful Post-Election COVID Thanksgiving

0

My heart is heavy as Mayors and Governors in some states make mandates to cancel Thanksgiving. Threatening constituents with fines and even imprisonment if they invite anyone besides the immediate family living in the house and encouraging neighbors to report on each other! Setting an arbitrary number of how many people can enjoy Thanksgiving together . . . and on and on the restrictions go.

As if canceling Thanksgiving, a time when we gather together to give gratitude to God for our many blessings, is going to be a way to eradicate COVID?!

First, it was closing our churches and now closing our homes and cancelling holidays.

This does not sound like the America we ask God to bless.

When I hear of these draconian threatening measures treating adults like children or even criminals, a wave of remorse comes over me. Hundreds of people can gather together with strangers in Walmart, Costco, Grocery stores, and casinos, but don’t you dare have extended family and friends in your home for Thanksgiving fellowship!

I appreciate the common sense message from South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to her state in a series of tweets. Here are several quotes from her.

In South Dakota, we won’t stop or discourage you from thanking God and spending time together this Thanksgiving.

I’ll continue to encourage each and every one of you to exercise personal responsibility and make smart choices for yourselves and your loved-ones. As you dig in to enjoy that delicious turkey and stuffing, make sure that everyone in your household is practicing good hygiene. Wash your hands. If someone in your family is in the vulnerable population, take extra precautions to keep them safe.

Smaller gatherings may be smarter this year. Let’s make sure to use common sense when we’re planning our celebrations. If you or someone in your family is sick or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, it may be best to stay home and join your loved-ones over FaceTime, Skype, or another app. As we learn more about COVID symptoms, it can be hard to keep track of them all, so visit the CDC website to refresh your memory.

Let’s all take the time to remember what Thanksgiving is all about – thanking God for everything that he has blessed us with in our lives. During difficult times, it’s important to be extra thankful for what we have.”

I would add to be mindful of anyone we know who is spending Thanksgiving alone. If possible, take them a meal or have one sent to them. We need each other now more than ever!

Tensions Over Turkey

For those of you, like our family, who are still going to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner together, the election could be as contentious around the table as it is around the country.

During our small group prayer request time, a reoccurring request went something like this: Please help us be a light on Thanksgiving among those with differing political and faith beliefs.

In the fragile aftermath of a volatile contested election, I imagine many of you are having similar concerns and conversations. I remember my mom cautioning that if you want to keep the peace, don’t talk about religion or politics. As a kid, I never understood that warning. Believers are supposed to tell everyone about Jesus. Since being a Christian is our first identity . . . how could we not talk about our Savior? And isn’t everyone entitled to his or her own political opinion?

Then I grew up!

If you follow me, you know I’m bold about being a born-again Christian. But as I wrote in Forsaken God? Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten: “Bold doesn’t mean obnoxious. It simply means not being afraid to speak the truth, even in the face of adversity: ‘Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold’ (2 Cor. 3:12).” For example, if someone asks what I write, I answer, “Christian nonfiction.” Or I’ll say, “I’m a Christian author and speaker.”

For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. Philippians 1:20 NLT

Is Thanksgiving a Religious Holiday?

That could be an awkward question in some circles.

When I mentioned to a group that I hoped people would set their differences aside on Thanksgiving Day, one response was, “It’s just a time for eating a lot of food, watching football, and shopping online anyway.”

Me: “I’m pretty sure the first pilgrims who celebrated Thanksgiving didn’t have TV or Amazon.

Another responded: “Well at least Thanksgiving isn’t a religious holiday.”

I asked: “Who then are we thanking?”

Complete silence.

Of course, God is the answer.

Abraham Lincoln made it an official national holiday “as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe.”

The English colonists we call Pilgrims celebrated days of thanksgiving as part of their religion. But these were days of prayer, not days of feasting.

Yes, Thanksgiving is a time of family and friends gathering, but as we sit around the feast together, we can’t thank each other, or aliens, or the “big bang” for giving us life, the sun, the moon, the trees, the ability to grow the food, the earth, the waters, the sky, sweet babies, and all the blessings we enjoy.

We read in Genesis that God spoke everything into being, and yet, many of us will be sharing turkey and dressing with people who don’t believe or discount the existence of God. They don’t know where they’re going when they die, or where everything we enjoy on earth came from . . . and maybe they don’t even care. They’ll walk out of the room when we pray before the meal, and may try and bait us into an argument over who we voted for and why. Maybe after a few drinks, their conversation will turn ugly, even though innocent young eyes are watching how the “adults” interact.

Yes, my husband and I have been thinking and praying about all of this and beseeching God to prepare us to be a light in the darkness . . . not ignore the darkness because that would be the cowards way out . . . but to help us respond as if Jesus was standing behind us speaking through us.

As I prayed and talked to the Lord, here’s a list I hope will help us, and maybe help you. I’d love to hear your ideas too.

Don’t worry what to say—“Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” Mark 13:11 (Jesus was talking to his disciples if they were arrested, but it could apply to us too if we felt our faith was being tested or put on trial.)

Speak kind words— “Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” Pr. 16:24 NLT

For your part, maintain peace—“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Romans 12:18

Don’t ask or answer antagonistic questions— “Interfering in someone else’s argument is as foolish as yanking a dog’s ears.” Pr. 26:17 NLT

Play with any children present— “We will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.” Ps 78:4 NLT

Don’t drink— “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18 NLT

Smile, Smile, Smile— “Fix my eyes on God— soon I’ll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He’s my God.” Psalm 42:5 The Message

Listen— “Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.” Pr. 12:15 NLT

Take a deep breath and think before you speak—“There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking.” Pr. 29:20 NLT

Less is more—“The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they?” Ecc. 6:11 NLT— There’s “A time to be quiet and a time to speak.” Ecc. 3:7 NLT

Say mind prayers continuously.—“Pray continually.” 1 Thess. 5:17

Have a secret sign or word between you and someone else that signals: Let’s change the subject or move into the other room.—“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.” Ecc. 4:9

If you’re hosting—Pray and thank God for each guest. Ask to be a blessing and to share joy. Pray over your home and each chair at the table. Pray before the meal as you normally would; your guests know they’re coming to a Christian home.—“Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” 1 Peter 4:9

If you’re a guest—As you walk up to the home pray that you’ll be a blessing and that God will stir up the fruit of the Spirit in your heart. If your hosts don’t pray before the meal, ask if you could say a prayer to bless the food. — “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Gal. 5:22-23

Thanksgiving is a day for harmony and focusing on God and giving Him thanks and praise in whatever way He leads. Fiction writers have a saying: “Show don’t tell.” Which simply means: you don’t always have to speak Jesus with your words; you can show Jesus with your actions!

Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalm 100:4 NLT

Past Thanksgiving Blogs

Here are my past Thanksgiving blogs you might enjoy reading. I give thanks for each of you for following these Monday Morning Blogs and I pray you have a joyful, peaceful, healthy, and God-filled Thanksgiving Day.

Acquiring Overshadows Thanksgiving

What Are You Most Thankful For?

Love Your Body During the Holidays

Thanksgiving Tablecloth Idea

In Forsaken God? Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, I share a way to use your tablecloth as a conversation piece and make memories for generations to come. Here is an excerpt from the book. I hope it gives you some ideas. I’ll be taking our memory-making tablecloth with us this Thanksgiving.

When my breast cancer journey started, I became keenly aware of making memories with my family. At times like that, you think seriously about your mortality and the legacy you want to leave with your loved ones. You appreciate each new day of life. The sun rising every morning is an act of God to celebrate.

Holidays like Thanksgiving have new meaning. Typically, Thanksgiving is a celebration where family and friends gather for a feast, and everyone says what they’re thankful for in the past year. But after finishing the dishes and putting away the leftovers, how many really remember what everyone said?

The Thanksgiving following my first breast cancer surgery, I had an idea of a Thankful Tablecloth. I purchased a Thanksgiving themed tablecloth with plenty of white space and a box of wash-resistant colored markers. After Thanksgiving dinner, I brought out the markers and asked everyone—kids included—to find a spot on the tablecloth to write what they were thankful for that year, sign, and date it. We traced handprints for the tiny ones with their name and age.

Today, we have years of thankful messages to read every Thanksgiving and remember the many acts of God’s goodness to us and the people who joined us at the celebration table each year. If we go to someone’s house for Thanksgiving dinner, I ask if I can bring our Thankful Tablecloth and markers.

 When I go to be with the Lord, I pray my family will continue bringing out the Thanksgiving Tablecloth as a reminder through the generations of how good God has been to our family and friends.

I’m taking a blog holiday next Monday, but God willing, I’ll be back the first Monday in December.

If you receive this blog by email, you can leave a comment here.

November 23, 2020
Return to top of page

When We Get What We Pray For, Why Are We Sad Sometimes?

6

How Can We Be Brave When God Answers our Prayers?

I’m back at my desk after six weeks in Southern California. If you’ve been following my blogs, newsletter articles, or Facebook posts, you may know that my husband Dave and I went to California to sell my writing cabin which we still owned. We’ve lived in Idaho for over eight years and it was getting harder to find the time to make an annual trip down to the cabin. Selling the cabin has always been a part of our retirement plan, so we felt God was telling us that now was the time to let it go.

As we prepared the cabin to put on the market, we prayed that it would sell while we were there before winter. Our Christian realtor prayed that the spirit of the Lord that had prevailed in this sweet little cabin for fifteen years, while I wrote numerous books from my desk in the living room with an amazing view, would continue with the new owners.

In a recent blog, What Are You Holding Onto That God Wants You to Let Go?, I talked about how the Lord led me in making the tough decisions of what to do with all our “stuff” as we cleaned, decluttered, staged, and decided what would fit in our car for the drive back to Idaho.

Then almost miraculously our prayers were answered. The cabin sold the last week we were there at our asking price to a Christian mother/daughter realtor team.

So why was I so sad?

[Tweet “How Can We Possibly be Brave During Grief?”]

When a friend suggested that I was grieving, it all made sense and it reminded me of the blog I wrote How Can We Possibly be Brave During Grief?

Maybe you’re grieving today, or you know someone who is, and this blog with excerpts from Everyday Brave will help. Each day gets a little bit easier for me, but I still tear up when I realize I’ll never write another article or book in that sweet cabin where I communed with God and described our time together: “It’s like I have a direct line to God!”

I know I can have that anywhere because He is everywhere, but it’s just not the same.

_____________________________

Hope for the Lonely by Jennifer Slattery gives hope to women who struggle with lonliness

How Can We Possibly be Brave During Grief?

“Mom, they sentenced me to ten years in prison.”

In Everyday Brave, Loretta Eidson tells the story of how a phone call from her son plunged her down the deep dark hole of depression. Loretta grieved for a prodigal: the death of the vision and dreams she had for a son who took a wrong turn in life. She aptly describes both the emotional pit of grief and the only way to dig out of it: bravely calling on God and others for help.

[Tweet “Grief is an emotional pit and the only way to dig out of it: bravely call on God and others for help.”]

Most of us have a plan for our life—we may feel certain we’re headed in the right direction. We had it all figured out. Everything’s under control. Then suddenly one day, we find ourselves living out a completely different scenario. Sometimes it’s better than we expected; but if not, we grieve. We grieve the loss of a job, a relationship, loved ones, animals, possessions, dreams, from past choices—the list goes on. Loss leaves a void in our heart. It hurts and we’re miserable.

I understand. I’ve experienced grief too. When I was ten, my thirty-six-year-old highway patrolman father was murdered with his own gun in the line of duty. At thirteen, I had to wear a body cast for aggressive debilitating scoliosis and miss two years of school. I’ve experienced a failed marriage. I’m a three-time breast cancer survivor. My daughter was a teenage prodigal. A difficult relationship with my mother, who disowned my sister and me. Moving away from family and friends. Medical issues. Relatives and close friends dying. Yet still, I can say, “Praise God!” He was with me through it all and I know he will always be there for me in the future.

[Tweet “God uses difficult circumstances in my life to give me a sensitivity and compassion for grieving and hurting women so I can better minister to them”]

God uses difficult circumstances in my life to give me a sensitivity and compassion for grieving and hurting women so I can better minister to them. And He will do the same for you. Someday He will use your heartache to help someone else going through a similar loss.

Death seems final—and sadly, it is if the one we’ve lost is not a believer. We mourn the opportunities when we wish we’d been braver to share Jesus with them. Even if we know the person is a believer and we will see him or her in heaven someday, it takes courage only God can provide to get out of bed each morning and face the loss and loneliness.

[Tweet “There is no easy or quick way to grieve, no timetable for how long grief will last. Grieving is a process.”]

There is no easy or quick way to grieve, no timetable for how long grief will last.

Grieving is a process.

Raw wounds may never completely heal, but when we seek God’s help, we can bravely face our tomorrows. One day at a time.

[Tweet “Dealing with grief bravely doesn’t mean keeping a stiff upper lip and hiding or denying your pain.”]

Dealing with grief bravely doesn’t mean keeping a stiff upper lip and hiding or denying your pain. It does mean being honest with others and yourself, and having the courage to admit you’re hurting and might need outside assistance, which can take many forms: counseling, medical, pastoral, family, friends . . . time.

As hard as we might try to prevent hardships and grief, we never know what tomorrow, or even the next hour, will bring. Many difficult trials happen to us or to our loved ones whether we’re ready or not. That can seem unnerving, but then God’s Word reminds us that as believers He has a plan for all of our lives, even when it seems obscure at the moment and we cry “Why Lord, why?” through our tears.

Grieving is a lonely time.

There’s little anyone can say to console us; no one can relieve or remove our pain. The Bible tells us that Jesus understands. He was “a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief” (Isa. 53:3 nlt). We can pour out all our pain, even pain that touches our deepest soul, to Jesus. Only he has the salve that can eventually heal our wounds, though there will always be a scar that fades with time but never disappears completely.

In the Bible, Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, and Rizpah, Saul’s concubine who watched both her sons murdered and their bodies left for the vultures, suffered a mother’s anguish of outliving their children. Can you imagine their heartache and pain? Their suffering and devastation?

Maybe you’ve experienced that kind of grief and you know exactly how they felt. I’m so sorry. Still, no matter the twists and turns, the tragedies, the heartaches and pain, we sense God’s loving presence helping us brave through the unwanted circumstances, just as Naomi bravely mentored new believer Ruth and Rizpah courageously advocated for her sons’ eventual burial. They found purpose in their pain.

[Tweet “I’ve always found journaling my feelings, prayer requests, and praises helps me work through difficult seasons.”]

I’ve always found journaling my feelings, prayer requests, and praises helps me work through difficult seasons. That’s why there’s a Prayer and Praise Journal in Everyday Brave. Sometimes a journal can be a trusted confidant that just listens and doesn’t give advice. Always, it’s God assuring us that one day He will turn our mourning into dancing. Until then, the psalmist reminds us: “My eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you” (Ps. 88:9—emphasis added).

Grief is difficult to talk about, but it usually helps to talk. What has helped you during times of grief?

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here.

If you don’t have your copy of Everyday Brave, it’s available on Amazon or signed by me at my website. It would make a great Christmas gift for every woman on your list who might need to realize she’s braver than she knows! Let’s get our brave on for Christ this Christmas and everyday!

November 18, 2019
Return to top of page

5 Examples of How to Join God in Bringing Good Out of Evil Intent

2

How Does God Want Us to Bring Good Out of Evil?

I struggled with what to write this week. As I prayed, God kept bringing to mind two thoughts: Lying always backfires and evil is being exposed.

If you haven’t read my last two blog posts, I hope you will. I’ve received many encouraging comments that they might be the best I’ve ever written and to that I say, “To God be the Glory!” I honestly never know what He’s going to ask me to share with you. I pray and sit down at the computer and suddenly I have a blog post. I often read it later and am amazed at what I wrote. Only God.

10 Things You Can Do in a World Gone Mad!

How Not Mentoring Millennials Implodes a Political Party. What Can the Church Learn?

Everyone Knows The Difference Between Good and Evil

Since Satan enticed Adam and Eve to eat from the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden, humanity has known the difference between good and evil, truth and lies.

15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” Genesis 2:15-17 (NLT)

Satan: “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5

Everyone, even those who choose to do evil and lie, has a conscience. They know the difference between right and wrong . . . except maybe psychopaths

It’s a matter of whether we choose to make evil or good our guiding life force. Tell the truth or lie to our own advantage. You don’t have to be a Christian to make that choice. Even unbelievers can do good and be truthful.

[Tweet “Our choices between good and evil usually come down to whether we’re self-centered or other-centered.”]

Our choices between good and evil usually come down to whether we’re self-centered or other-centered. Caring only about our own selfish desires or caring more about others than ourselves. Again, you don’t have to be a Christian to make the choice to do good, but Christians should always make that choice.

When I hear politicians and pro-choice advocates expound that every woman should have a choice with her body, I want someone to challenge them with asking, “A choice to do what? Good or evil?”

Let’s look at 5 examples of how we can join God in bringing good out of evil intents.

1. Abortion

Many agree that abortion is evil, but until recently how many really did anything about it. Yes, there were annual walks for life and pro-life advocates, but few people, even Christians, let the murder of innocent babies keep them awake at night or invade their everyday life.

Then abortion went to the next level of infanticide and everyone started taking notice. When New York approved abortion up and through delivery and lit up the city in pink to celebrate this evil, the governor of Virginia told us in graphic terms that a baby who survives an abortion could be left to die, and Congress voted to legalize infanticide . . . suddenly we were kept up at night. We were appalled. We couldn’t ignore that 50 million innocent souls are tortured to death in their mommy’s tummy every year.

[Tweet “We can’t ignore that 50 million innocent souls are tortured to death in their mommy’s tummy every year.”]

Social media lit up with graphic pictures and descriptions of the atrocities of abortion. The mainstream liberal media, as usual, wouldn’t touch the topic, but FOX News did. You’d have to be a hermit today to not know what happens to babies during abortion.

So how could this publicity about the atrocities of abortion be used for good?

Pushing the envelope to late-term abortions and infanticide has now made abortion a topic of discussion and disgust.

There’s renewed hope and fervor for overturning Roe vs Wade. We must keep the momentum going when the publicity dies down.

We can’t become complacent again while murder of innocent babies happens in our own hometowns every single day!

Women who have long suffered with the guilt of abortion have an opportunity to use their story for good by sharing their testimonies and turning the bad in their life into good by helping to save more babies. We can pray for these mothers and share with them the forgiveness that comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

A young dad who had no say in the death of his own baby when his girlfriend chose abortion, has now brought an unprecedented legal case for the rights of fathers.

We can send a message to Congress that all newborn babies should be welcomed with warmth and care, and join thousands of Americans in a End Birth Day Abortion campaign.

End birthday abortion. Stop infaniticide.

[Tweet “See the movie Unplanned releasing March 29. Tell all your friends about this movie and encourage mothers to take their teenage daughters and sons.“]

Go see the movie Unplanned releasing March 29. The true story of former Planned Parenthood Director, Abby Johnson, who suddenly saw the evils of abortion and became a pro-life advocate. A former abortion doctor has a role in the movie also.

Tell all your friends about Unplanned and encourage mothers to take their teenage daughters and sons. The movie is by the same producers who made God’s Not Dead. It has an R rating only because Hollywood promotes abortion and they’re trying to discourage people from seeing it.

[Tweet “Only God could bring out the movie Unplanned at a time when abortion is in the national discussion. We can work with God in helping publicize it.”]

Only God could bring this movie out at a time when the atrocities of all abortion is the topic of national discourse. We can work with God in helping publicize Unplanned.

[Tweet “An evil world has made killing babies a political issue. Abortion is a criminal issue. Make it your spiritual issue“]

An evil world has made killing babies a political issue. Abortion is a criminal issue. Make it your spiritual issue.

God created each baby in His image with a unique fingerprint and DNA from the moment of conception. Let’s not be satisfied until the world acknowledges this truth.

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. — Genesis 50:20 NASB

2. The Mueller Investigation

I know you’re saying, “How could that be used for good?” We’re all so sick of it and it has plagued our president since before he even took office. Now he’s vindicated!

But consider that if there had been no investigation, would we have ever known about the corruption of some in the FBI and Justice Department? Those evil men and women who chose to put their own political interests before the good of the country have been exposed.

And the lies, lies, and more lies of the mainstream liberal media and politicians during this investigation are now boomeranging on them as the Mueller report is released.

Let’s pray for a revival of honesty and truth in our government and that our country can begin to heal. Corruption would continue to be eradicated and God would be brought back into our schools. We would vote into office godly public officials. It starts with we the people!

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
    and clever in their own sight.

22 Woe to those . . . who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    but deny justice to the innocent.”  Isaiah 5:20-21, 23

3. Democrat Presidential Candidates Running on a Platform of Socialism/Communism

I know again, how could this be good? It’s not. Socialism is evil, but the younger generation and school age kids aren’t being taught that in school. This is our chance to educate them on the evils of socialism, which leads to communism and a dictatorship.

[Tweet “We have a choice. Take action or stay silent while Democrat candidates lie about the freebies of socialism without exposing how it ruins countries.”]

Again, we have a choice. Take action or stay silent while these candidates lie about the freebies of socialism without exposing how it ruins countries and lives. Speak out against their platforms and mentor truth to the next generation. If you don’t, who will?

“For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.” 1 Peter 2:15

4. Suffering

It’s hard to find good in suffering. It’s painful. Dreadful. Costly. Debilitating. Destructive. And yet, it happens to most of us at some time in our life. We try to avoid it by taking good care of our bodies, eating healthy, exercising, and taking vitamins. But one day we can’t outrun the diagnosis that stops us in our tracks. We want to deny it, but we can’t.

While in the moment it seems all about us, maybe God actually wants us to use our suffering to help others.

When I first had breast cancer, I wanted to go through surgery and treatment and then move on with my life. The last thing I wanted to do was identify as a breast cancer survivor. Then God took hold of my heart and I wrote the book I wished I had going through my cancer journey, Dear God, They Say It’s Cancer: A Companion Guide for Women on the Breast Cancer Journey. I’ve had many women tell me it was like God and I were walking along beside them during their breast cancer.

I’ll never know how many women God has used to turn evil cancer into a blessing for other breast cancer sisters.

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” Colossians 1:24

5. Sin

No matter how good we try to be, the evils of sin enter our life often through our wrong choices. But here’s the Good News: at Calvary God traded evil for good. The horrible death of Jesus Christ by evil men, and His ultimate resurrection, ushered in the amazing opportunity of salvation for everyone who chooses to believe in Jesus and receive forgiveness for his or her sins.

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. Romans 3:23-26 NLT

[Tweet “For believers, evil doesn’t have the last word in our life. No matter how evil the world becomes, we know that this world is not our final home.”]

For believers, evil doesn’t have the last word in our life. No matter how evil the world becomes, we know that this world is not our final home. We must share that Good News with everyone we know who might not be joining us in eternity.

The best way to exemplify the goodness of our Holy God is to let our Light shine in the midst of a dark unholy world.

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life . . . .” Philippians 2:14-16

We each have a choice:

Stay silent about evil or expose it.

Turn our backs on evil or work with God to bring good out of it.

“Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” Romans 12:21(NLT)

Will you share in the comments where you’ve worked with God to bring good out of what Satan meant for evil.

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here.

You might also enjoy a slide how I wrote for Crosswalk.com 10 Powerful Gifts to Pass to the Next Generation. 

March 25, 2019
Return to top of page

In Today’s Culture, I Might Have Been Aborted

0

In Today's Culture I Could've Been Aborted

“I wouldn’t have had you if I knew I would be passing on health issues to you!” My mom said to me.

As states are rapid-fire passing abortion laws that allow babies to be aborted for any “health” reason, even up through and after delivery, my mother’s words echo in my mind. I was just a young girl and I tried to frame her words in love. But I wondered then, as I do now, why wouldn’t she want me? Were her words coming from a point of regret or concern about my future? She’s gone now and I never asked.

[Tweet “Ultrasounds have made strides in helping to determine when a heart starts beating as new parent’s excitedly watch the development of their baby in mommy’s tummy.”]

Ultrasounds have made strides in helping to determine when a heart starts beating as new parents excitedly watch the development of their baby in mommy’s tummy. There are so many benefits of ultrasounds, especially in letting hesitant mommy’s know their baby is not just tissue or a fetus, but a kicking, smiling, yawning, sleeping, squirming baby boy or girl.

Ultrasounds and amniocentesis also detect early developmental issues. Often a baby’s life can be saved by intrauterine surgery or detecting that the mommy needs to be on bedrest.

[Tweet “Before ultrasounds detecting problems babies would have a chance at life. Today doctors encourage fearful parents to abort “and try again.””]

But these same tests can detect problems that can’t be treated until the baby is born, or maybe not treatable ever.

Before intrauterine technology, those babies would have a chance at life. Today doctors might encourage fearful parents to “abort and try again.” Even though we read story after story of the doctor and the tests being wrong and a beautiful baby boy or girl surprises everyone. A baby almost killed because he or she might not be perfect.

I would’ve been one of those imperfect babies.

Today’s technology could probably detect that I would have a spine with severe debilitating congenital scoliosis. Doctors might have told my first-time parents that without treatment I would be deformed and why not “get rid of me and try again for a better baby next time.” But my mom was pregnant before ultrasounds. Parents had to anxiously wait until their baby was born to even know if they were having a boy or a girl. So I lived.

But as I grew, my mother continually told me to stand up straight and had me standing for hours with my back against the wall hoping my spine would straighten on its own. But it only got worse until doctors told her if I didn’t have surgery to put a metal rod down my spine or be put in traction and wear a plaster cast from just under my ears to my hip bones until I finished growing, my left arm would eventually drag the ground. There was no way to correct the S-shaped curvature, only stop it from getting any worse and I would endure a lifetime of back pain.

She probably repeated in her mind, “I shouldn’t have had you.”

In Today's Culture, I Could've Been Aborted Because I had a deformed spine

At Christmas with my younger sister. The plaster cast you see around my neck went all the way down to my hip bones. I’m bracing myself with my left hand because I could barely sit up.

Or maybe she would’ve started experiencing many of her “health issues,” and when she became pregnant, she didn’t want to pass them on to me. I would be better off not being born. Aborted.

When I had breast cancer three times after she was gone, had she been alive, she might have said again, “I shouldn’t have had you.”

But praise God . . . she did have me.

In Today's Culture, I Could Have Been Aborted

[Tweet “God had a plan for me like He has for every one of His creations and none of us are perfect.”]

God had a plan for me like He has for every one of His creations and none of us are perfect.

Mothers often express in delight, “My baby is perfect as they count ten toes and fingers, four limbs, two eyes, two ears, one nose and a mouth, but no one really knows what awaits each of us. And that’s a good thing. If we knew a two-year old was going to get cancer, would we not want to have those two precious years with our child? What about if doctors could predict asthma or allergies? Would those be considered enough “health issues” to abort?

Now that they can detect Down’s Syndrome and cleft palates, should those darling children not have a chance at life? Savagely, doctor’s give parents that choice today.

[Tweet “Every life has a purpose, and while we’d like our life to be pure joy and happiness, we’re all going to have challenges.”]

Every life has a purpose, and while we’d like our life to be pure joy and happiness, we’re all going to have challenges. God’s plan is for all His children to be a part of human history for however long or short our time on earth or how imperfect our bodies or minds.

It’s not our call to play God.

[Tweet “It is not our call to play God.”]

Here’s some ways God has used my less than perfect body.

  1. I had a beautiful baby girl, who could’ve possibly had scoliosis, but she doesn’t. I tried so hard to have her while I struggled with infertility and not once did I ever think, “Maybe God doesn’t want me to have a baby.” I love being a mother.
  2. My daughter has three beautiful children. I love being a grandmother.
  3. I have a godly husband who is devoted to Jesus and to me. I love being a wife.
  4. I had the opportunity to start the Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry over twenty years ago and only God knows the number of women throughout the world who have been, and continue to be, blessed by mentoring relationships. I love being About His Work.
  5. At the age of 50, I became an author! September 2019 will be the release of my twentieth Christian nonfiction book, all written to the glory of God. I love being an author.
  6. I’ve had the opportunity to speak and encourage women throughout the United States and Canada about how to live a life for Christ. I love speaking and mentoring.

It’s true I’ve had, and continue to have, many health issues, but I’m so glad my mother did choose to give me life.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

Psalm 139:13-14

In a recent post Don’t Just Cry About It, Do Something, I said one of the things we can do is put a face to the inhumanity of abortion by telling our stories. I’m sure all of you have a story to tell too of someone, maybe you, who might’ve been aborted today. Share with us your story in the comments and tell someone else today! You might just be saving an unborn life.

If you received this blog by email, leave a comment here.

*Opening picture is from the Christian Conservative

February 18, 2019
Return to top of page

Love Your Body: Let’s Mentor Each Other On the Ketogenic Diet

6

Love Your Body: Let's Mentor Each Other on the Ketogneic Diet.

Love Your Body Like God Loves It

If you’ve followed my Love Your Body posts on the last Monday of the month, you know I’m not a fan of “diets,” especially those that limit or reduce a particular food group. I’ve heard of the Ketogenic Diet, as probably many of you have too, but always dismissed it since it goes against everything we’ve ever learned about eating large amounts of fat. I’ve always eaten healthy fat, but only in moderation and have enjoyed good heart-healthy blood tests over the years.

Now I’m suffering from a neurological disorder and on the sixth medication trying to control it. Many of you were following me earlier this year when the fourth medication led to numerous kidney stones and horrendous surgery. Since going off that med, I’ve tried two more and we’re running out of options if this one doesn’t work.

So I did what many of us do and started researching more to see if there was anything else I could try. Mind you, I had read and read about this condition and felt like I was doing everything the doctors and I could do, but still the symptoms or adverse reactions to a medication continue.

Then suddenly last week, while back on the internet, I saw this: Sometimes going on a Ketogenic diet can help. Whoa, why hadn’t that appeared in any of my previous research? I contacted my neurologist to see if they had any success with this diet and they hesitantly said, “Some, but you would need to be followed by a Pediatric Dietitian and it will not replace medication.” I was surprised about the “pediatric” part, but it could be because they’ve only used it with children, which my research showed was easier for kids to follow this diet than adults. I thought that was interesting.

Since many of you know my first career out of college was a Registered Dietitian, I felt confident I could figure this diet out on my own.

I mentioned the diet to my endocrinologist and he said, “Oh it’s just the Atkins diet, but it could really help your LDL levels” (which had suddenly started rising). He encouraged me to try it.

This diet is also supposed to help reduce causes of cancer, and since I’m a three-time breast cancer survivor, this peaked my attention too.

When I started checking out the diet on different websites, I became more and more confused. It’s not the old Atkins diet. Then a dear friend loaned me a big book by a doctor, and I’m trying to wade through it. I have so many questions, and I’m hoping some of you who have successfully been on this diet could mentor me and others thinking about also trying it.

[Tweet “If you’ve been on the ketogenic diet can you answers some questions for me?”]

Here are some of my questions. Please write in the comments at the end of this blog, if you have answers:

  1. Did you gradually go on the diet, how did if feel when you started, and how long did it take to go on it completely?
  2. What did you follow to know foods to eat and foods to avoid?
  3. How do you know if you’re in Ketosis? What do you use to test?
  4. Any websites or books you suggest reading to learn more and find recipes?
  5. Did you see any changes in your cholesterol or LDL levels?
  6. How do you feel after being on it for a while?
  7. I’m not trying to lose weight, but did you lose weight?
  8. Did your family go on this with you, and if not, how did you make it easy to cook this way just for yourself? Because if your family eats high fats and doesn’t reduce carbs, that can be bad for their health. I did figure that out, and I don’t think hubby is going to do this with me.
  9. How long did it take you to see results?
  10. Did you go on this diet for health reasons?
  11. What tricks do you have for eating out and staying faithful, especially with the holidays approaching?
  12. How do you prepare kale?

I could go on and on with questions, but I know your answers to these questions will help me get started, and maybe help others who have been considering going on it too.

Don’t feel you have to answer all these questions to respond, but I would love to hear from you in a comment below, so we could all learn about your experience on this Ketogenic Diet.

Also, feel free to ask more questions in your comments, because I’m sure someone is going to have the same question and/or know the answer.

This is Mentoring!

[Tweet “Mentoring is just sharing our experiences with those who are in a new season of life.”]

I hope you’ve had an opportunity to pick up a copy of my new book Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness. Mentoring is just what I’m asking us to do in this post . . . share our experiences with those who are in a new season of life. You may be younger or older than me, but you can help me learn more about the Ketogenic Diet. Then I can pass on to others the knowledge and help you’ve given to me and everyone reading this post.

Always exciting to see your new book Mentoring for All Seasons at LifeWay bookstore

I had fun last week stopping by our new LifeWay Bookstore in Boise to take pictures of Mentoring for All Seasons with the manager of the store. It never gets old seeing your “baby” on the shelf, and it was right in the front on the “New Release” shelf. If you have a LifeWay Bookstore near you, why not stop by, pick up a copy, and support your local Christian bookstore.

[Tweet “If you have a LifeWay Bookstore pick up a copy of #mentoringforallseasons and support your local Christian bookstore.”]

I didn’t hear from any of you last week, but the publisher is offering an incredible discount on 5 or more copies of Mentoring for All Seasons through the end of December. You can use it yourself, share with your church, your women’s ministry, small group, or whoever would benefit from the book. Contact me and I’ll send you the information.

You can also purchase on all the online bookstores, Amazon, or I’ll sign and personalize it from our website store.

[Tweet “Two are better than one, and I need help figuring out a Ketogenic Diet”]

Ok, remember two are better than one, and I need your help figuring out this Ketogenic Diet. I hope many of you will leave comments and give me some advice.

Two are Better thank one because if one falls down the other can pick them up!

If you receive this post by email, leave a comment here.

September 25, 2017
Return to top of page

What to Do When You Don’t Like Your Life Season

1

What Do You Do When You Don't Like Your Life Season? Cry yell scream get depressed? None of those things are going to change things. God tells us in Ecc. 3:1-8 that there's a time for every good and difficult season under heaven but read and discover how God and mentoriing can help you survive this season!

We’ve all heard it said, “There’s a time for everything.” Or “You’re just in a season, it will pass.” In fact, it’s Scriptural—

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3     a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6     a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7     a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8     a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.”—Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

The good and pleasant seasons sound wonderful and just what God wants for us, right? It’s so easy to think that God couldn’t possibly want what we perceive as a bad or unpleasant season for us. And yet this Scripture passage tells us that God made both, and while we’re alive, we’re going to experience every season—the good and the bad—under heaven.

Pastor Rick Warren often says that life is like a roller coaster: if you’re going up and experiencing a good season, brace yourself because in about three weeks you’ll probably find yourself going down into an unpleasant season, screaming all the way!

We try so hard to hold onto those feel-good seasons, and there’s nothing wrong with that—we should have times of joy, dancing, laughing, loving, and peace. But when the not so good times roll, we need to remember that God has not left us. He’s walking right beside us through the mourning, weeping, uprooting, and war seasons, and that’s when a mentor is so helpful to remind us that she made it through her tough seasons and we will too.

[Tweet “A mentor is helpful to remind us that she made it through her tough seasons and we will too”]

The focus of my book Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture has Forgotten is for us to remember how good God has been in all the seasons of our life. God never abandons His children. This is a message we need to share with each other and with the culture, especially during these challenging times we live in today.

Reasons for Not Liking our Life Season

Usually we don’t like our life season because:

It’s painful or uncomfortable.

We’re jealous and like what someone else’s life looks like more than our own life.

We’re living with the consequences of our, or someone else’s, behavior or decisions.

We’re discontent or discouraged.

We’re not sure if God still cares about us.

What would you add to the list?

We all have difficult seasons we want to end. Or maybe we’re in a wonderful season that we never want to end. Many life seasons we have no control over, even though advertisers and the culture would try to make you believe differently. They set us up to fail either way by thinking if we just drink the right cola, take the right pill, own the right car, use the right cosmetics and anti-aging products, eat the right food, reach success . . . every season of our life will be heavenly. The aging clock is going to stop and somehow God made our life to be different from everyone else’s life.

But that’s a lie and those who buy into it will never be content because everything God lists in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 is a season that everyone will experience.

What to Do When We Don’t Like Our  Life Season

We probably feel like crying, screaming, maybe yelling, getting depressed, ignoring, or trying to get out of it. If we’re honest, we’ve all been there.

[Tweet “The only thing that works when we don’t like our life season is to ask God how He wants us to deal with it”]

But soon we realize that the only thing that works when we don’t like our life season is to ask God how He wants us to deal with it, and then listen carefully to how the Holy Spirit speaks to us. It’s that still small voice we hear guiding us when we cry out to God. We might not know how to get through the season, but God does. So often He’s talking, but we’re not listening.

Someone on a friend’s Facebook post asked how my Christian friend knew what God wanted. Did he have a direct line to God? I thought, Yes he does! Every Christian has a direct line to God the world doesn’t understand, and one we don’t use nearly enough: praying to Jesus who hears every word and the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us even when all we can do is groan.

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Romans 8:26-27

While writing this post, I met a woman whose husband has cancer. As she shared her story, I heard in my mind hug her and pray for her. Mind you, we had just met, and I had already told her I would be praying for her husband and their family since I understood having had breast cancer three times. But as she kept talking, I knew I was to pray for her now. So I said, “Let me pray for you,” and stepped forward to hug her; but she didn’t realize that I meant right then. I knew God meant right then! She needed it and she was so grateful.

I had tried to talk myself out of it, and how many times is God trying to tell us what to do “right then,” but we’re dismissing His words of wisdom to see us through this season and on into the next one. That’s when a mentor can step in and do just what I was able to do for this woman, even though we barely knew each other. Can you imagine how much comfort can come from two women who have a personal mentoring relationship?!

[Tweet “Can you imagine how much comfort can come from two women who have a mentoring relationship?!”]

God doesn’t want us going through any season alone, but He also doesn’t want us listening to anyone who isn’t giving us biblical wisdom. That’s why in Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness, every season has Scripture to study together that applies to the various issues women might experience in that season.

[Tweet “Being a mentor doesn’t mean you have all the answers or have the Bible memorized. “]

Being a mentor, or a mentee reaching out to another woman for guidance, doesn’t mean the mentor has all the answers or the Bible memorized. It just means she’s willing to search God’s Word and pray together for Him to tell you both what to do in the life seasons you might not like right now; and then, you both reach out and help someone else going through something similar.

And that’s exactly what Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 tells us we need to do when we’re going through a life season we don’t like!

What to Do When You Don't Like Your Life Season? Find a mentor who has experienced it already and let her support and encourage you. Read some helpful tips on how to survive those unpleasant life seasons.

Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness is available now for order or Kindle or signed by the author.

Author Bio

Janet Thompson is an international speaker, freelance editor, and award-winning author of 19 books. Her latest release is Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness.

She is also the author of Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten; The Team That Jesus Built; Dear God, Why Can’t I Have a Baby?; Dear God They Say It’s Cancer; Dear God, He’s Home!; Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter; Face-to-Face Bible study Series; and Woman to Woman Mentoring: How to Start, Grow, & Maintain a Mentoring Ministry Resources.

She is the founder of Woman to Woman Mentoring and About His Work Ministries.

Visit Janet and sign up for her Monday Morning blog and online newsletter at womantowomanmentoring.com

www.facebook.com/Janetthompson.authorspeaker

http://www.linkedin.com/in/womantowomanmentoring/

www.pinterest.com/thompsonjanet

https://twitter.com/AHWministries

August 7, 2017
Return to top of page

I Didn’t See This Coming!

13

I’m back! I’m sure that many of you who are used to receiving my Monday Morning Blog wondered what happened to me the month of April. I’m sorry that I didn’t have time to explain, but I was completely unprepared for the events that knocked me down so fast and hard. I didn’t have any warning myself.

Let me explain. If you’ve followed me for a while, you will remember that on Christmas Day I tripped on a rug and landed head first on a wooden chest. So I started 2017 with 5 staples in my head, a concussion, and a constant ringing in my ears. I wrote about that experience on January 9 in the blog post 8 Reasons to Make 2017 the Year of New Connections, when one of the opening sentences was, “You know how we make our plans but the Lord directs our steps.” And the next week in, What If You Didn’t Get to Say Goodbye I wrote, “I don’t remember ever having an accident like that before.”

I did not see that accident coming or the length of time it would take to recover from the concussion. By February, I had come to terms with the fact that I would probably live the rest of my life with the ringing in my ears as an array of doctors told me there was probably no hope it would ever go away. Many people told me their stories of living with this distraction and all the many cures, but I am an easily distracted person so I knew it wouldn’t be easy for me to overcome, but with the Lord’s help, I will not be shaken.

Then I started feeling bad the beginning of March in a part of my body unrelated to the concussion—my lower stomach, from my navel down. After several weeks, it got worse so I started the round of doctors, ending up at an urologist who did a CT scan revealing I had kidney stones and gallbladder stones, but he was sure my pain was coming from one kidney stone that looked to be lodged in the top of my bladder. He sent me home for the weekend to drink gallons of water and lemonade, but nothing had changed by the time his office called to check with me on Monday, the last Monday in March and the day of my last blog post to you.

Two days later, on Wednesday at 6:30 AM I was being prepped for surgery to remove what we all thought was one stuck kidney stone. I told everyone I would be back in my office Thursday, including my publisher as we were working on the cover for my new book Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness. Everyone I knew who had ever had kidney stones assured me by Wednesday night I would be feeling great!

Well I wasn’t feeling great. I opened my eyes after surgery and felt twenty times worse! What?! I cried I was so disappointed and one of the nurses said, “Who told you that you were going to feel better?” All my Facebook friends, and I just assumed it would be an easy surgery. Wrong!!!

It turns out I had “dozens” of small stones stuck in both ureters—the tubes that come out of your kidneys. Yes you read right, I had been walking around with dozens of stones!!! So that meant cameras, wires, surgical tools all had invaded both ureters to scrape out the dozens of stones, as well as removing any left in my kidneys. I came home with stints in both ureters, excruciating cramps and pain, and was knocked flat on my back for weeks.

As many of you know I’ve had breast cancer surgery three times, so I am not a wimp and I have a very high threshold for pain, which is how I went so long with all these stones; but I was in agony after this surgery. The recovery has been so much slower than I could have ever expected. There were times when I couldn’t even pray except to groan, which the Bible tells me the Holy Spirit interpreted those groans to God for me.

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Romans 8:26

Analysis of the stones showed the cause was a medication I was taking for a neurological condition, so in the midst of all this, I had to transition off those meds and onto a different one that made me nauseated, dizzy, and knocked me back down again.

So that’s where I’ve been this past month. But I made it back to church today and once we get these medications figured out, I pray the rest of the year will be better.

Points to Ponder

One Sunday morning, I was sobbing in pain and my husband asked what could he ask the church to pray for during their time of “Praise, Prayer, and Share.” The only thing I could say was, “Hope.” But I told him don’t say that or people will think my faith if faltering, but what I meant was hope that I was going to wake up one morning and feel better. I think he asked for prayer that there would be a turn for the better in my recovery.

He came home from church that morning with a gift bag from a sweet woman who serves our church by sending get well cards and gifts when a parishioner is ill. She had no idea of my plea for hope. In the bag was this cup!

Interestingly, the day before surgery I had turned into Crosswalk.com, who I write for regularly, a blog 10 Ways Not to Help a Suffer. Crosswalk posted that blog exactly one week after surgery. The blog talks about things not to do when someone you know is suffering, with the corresponding ten ways to help someone suffering. My church family, small group, and small mountain community were the example of everything to do to help someone. They showed up at the door with meals, sent cards, called faithfully, and prayed continually. As I walked into church today, I was greeted over and over by “It’s so good to see you back and I was praying for you!”

My next article assigned by Crosswalk is “How to Remain Hopeful When the Pain Won’t Stop.” I’ll let you know when that posts because I will share more of what kept me going and hopeful this past month.

Two days after surgery, the copy edits from my publisher arrived for me to review. It would be my last chance to make any changes or corrections and to review the changes their editors had made. When I let the product manager for Mentoring for All Seasons know about the surgery and it would probably be a few weeks before I could look at these, she quickly extended the April 21 deadline to today May 1. During the month, she checked in to see how I was doing, and often I was miserable. She continually sent me prayers along with this sweet graphic.

So while the health issues this year caught me completely by surprise, I know that God is never caught off guard and He sustains me. The word He gave me in both the concussion and the recovery from this surgery is: I will not be shaken.

God willing, I will be back next week. Thank you for those who prayed for me that knew about this, and the many Facebook friends who let me know their prayers and thoughts were with me. I was so blessed to see all of your comments when I felt up to checking in on Facebook. I pray if any of you are suffering, you also know that our hope is in the Lord who never leaves our side.

If you received this post by email, please comment here.

May 1, 2017
Return to top of page
Next Page »
Return to top of page · Copyright © 2024 Crown Laid Down Designs All Rights Reserved · Our Privacy Policy