Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, the young woman who is unmarried and a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [God with us].
How beautiful these words are. Today, as I celebrated Christmas with my beautiful family and friends I realized how blessed I truly am. Today, I was blessed to be surrounded by people who love me, who adore me, who accept me for who I am. They are my support and my life and I love them. As I sat and thought of this I also thought about the blessing that happened on this day, the day Jesus was born. He was the first to love me no matter what I did. He was the first to support me, adore me, accept me and walk with me everyday, and he continues to do so. He surrounds me, in my wonderful days and during my dark hours. He is my support and I love him just as he loves me. What made this thought even more beautiful is the fact that he knew of me, he loved me, before I even set foot on this earth. He loved me so much that he gave his life for me. Now that, my friends, is a Christmas present that keeps on giving! So today was my day to reflect and realize the biggest blessing of all, my salvation provided by Jesus himself!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
I Will Not Forget....
As I study the word of God, a fear sometimes comes over me that I will not be able to remember what I am reading. My MS causes me to have short term memory loss, which has become very annoying to me, as this was never a problem before! One blessing I have found is that I do not have to worry about that. The bible tells us not to worry, but I have found it hard not to worry about something as serious as not being able to remember God’s word. It is amazing how God works; I just have to throw that in here this morning before I tell you how this fear turned into a blessing. This morning I woke and began to study John 15. John 15 teaches us the true key to our walk with the Lord and was something I felt important to study this morning. As I finished reading I noticed a verse I had highlighted at some point during my readings, but never quite took it to heart. The verse was John 14:26 and 27:
26 But the counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you: my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (NIV)
How beautiful these words were when I read them. I had obviously read them before, I had them highlighted, but this morning it was like reading them for the first time! Jesus was comforting his disciples, letting them know they would not be alone, that the Spirit would be with them. He told them do no be afraid, that he was giving them peace. This morning he comforted me and took away the fear I have had for a long time and gave me peace. He let me know that MS may cause issue with my memory, but I am blessed with the Holy Spirit, who will make sure I do not forget it! How beautiful and fantastic is our Lord?
Lord, you never cease to amaze me. Your blessing and your grace is beyond anything I could ever imagine and I accept it with a whole heart. Lord, I thank you for your spirit that guides me, comforts me, and never lets me forget the words you say to me. Thank you, Lord, for opening my eyes and for removing this fear I had inside. You are glorious God, my glorious God. Amen
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Are You in Exile??
Just like the people in Jeremiah’s time, we are exiled, but in a different sense. The word exile means "Enforced removal from one's native country. Or Self-imposed absence from one's country." In our case, we have self-imposed exile on ourselves from God’s “country”. God’s “country” is located inside us all, it is our heart. We become distracted and lured away by Satan temptations and we begin to become absent from the “country” in our hearts. We begin to fall away from God’s word and begin to live in a manner that is not pleasing to God. Maybe things go wrong, bad things happen, and we begin to blame God. We start to think maybe God has forgotten us because we are going through trials, pain and suffering that seem to be never ending. We are exiled from our father, by our own choice, through our own actions. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that we are not forgotten, and even in the face of suffering, we have a hope. God has a plan for me, he knows this plan, I do not. I have faced suffering in my life, I have faced pain in my life, but through it all, even when I thought God wasn’t there….he was. He has always had a plan for me. While I may have had to suffer, God knew what he was doing, he has turned that suffering into beauty. He has given me hope in times that I have suffered the most. He has given me a bright future, all I have to do is take hold of his hands and let him guide me. God has, and is still, preparing me, just like the people of Judah, for a new beginning. A new beginning in which he is the center of my world, and this is a beautiful thing!!
Beautiful Lord in Heaven, I do not know the plan you have for me, but I know you do. You have walked with me daily, even when I was not actively your child, you walk with me now while I face MS and many other trials in this life. You are always there, you never left, but I did. Lord I thank you for finding me, for bringing me back to your country, your place that you have kept inside me. Thank you Lord for your saving grace and unconditional love. It's good to be home. Amen.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
I Am More....
Driving today I heard a song that filled my heart with joy. The song is "You Are More" by Tenth Avenue North and one part of the song really opened my eyes: "'Cause this is not about what you've done, But what's been done for you. This is not about where you've been, But where your brokenness brings you to....You are more than the choices that you've made, You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, You are more than the problems you create, You've been remade." How beautiful to hear these words!! I am more than anything in this life..I am more because I am remade in my God's eyes. I am not just a mom, a daughter or a friend. I am not just a sick woman with Multiple Sclerosis. I AM God's child. I am more than the disease that fills my earthly body because my life belongs to God, my disease does not define me...my life in Christ defines me! Psalm 119:114 You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope. My body may be filled with a disease, but the Lord is my refuge, his word my source of hope, this disease is earthly, but my hope is bigger and more powerful than any disease I can face here on earth. Every morning I can and will wake up knowing the Lord is my strength!
Monday, October 11, 2010
It Isn't Always Easy
Most people think that I spend everyday feeling blessed and happy, however, I have my days. Having MS and seeing the blessings is not always easy, but every time I have problems with finding the blessing, the Lord always seems to make sure I find it, even if it is during a bad day! Yesterday was a trying day for me. I am in another exacerbation and have not been feeling well. My family had a planned trip to the airshow, which meant I had to go in my wheelchair. I have been to the store a few times in the wheelchair, but not to a place where there will be thousands of people. I was feeling very vulnerable and afraid and let's just say I had the meltdown of all meltdowns and ended up in my bathroom with gigantic crocodile tears streaming down my face. Psalm 62:1 "My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him". I don't need the approval of anyone around me but the Lord. I realized it did not matter what anyone at that show thought of me, what mattered was that I put my pain in the Lord's hands and went to the airshow with my family. I realized that I do not need to worry about anything but my relationship with God and all other things will fall into place. I had a great time, my family had a great time, and no one stared at me or made remarks, after all, I wasn't the only person there in a wheelchair!
I have found that we, as humans, tend to over think things and over dramatize things. It is better to let the Lord take your worries, your pain, your suffering and spend your time enjoying the beautiful life the Lord has given you. I have decided to worry more about my walk with the Lord and less time worrying about this disease and what other people may think of me, life is much better that way!!
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