Tag Archives: God

Do You Feel the Pressure?

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Have you ever seen one of those ice crushers at work?

Place the ice cubes in the container, turn it on….and look out!

-The machine pushes, punches and spins forever, until every last piece of ice has been crushed. Those cubes are no longer cubes, and it is unsure if they can find a way out of the machine. The ice is not alone, and it will be used again, just in a different form. But what pressure those ice cubes were under!

That sounds like a silly illustration, but it almost describes the pressure so many people seem to be experiencing these days. I will just say it out loud….life can be tough, and the pressure is on! It almost seems surreal, the battles that are raging in individual lives. And with that pressure comes heartache and pain.

You may choose to disagree, which is your option, but I believe we are in the last days and the battle has intensified. I am so thankful for Jesus and the word that provides us comfort as we walk through these days.

This scripture is just one of many that the Father is using in my life right now, and my prayer is that it will encourage you in your battles and pressures!

I am so thankful that JESUS that is constantly at work in those of us that trust Him.

2 Corinthians 4:8-12Amplified Bible

8 We are pressured in every way [hedged in], but not crushed; perplexed [unsure of finding a way out], but not driven to despair; 9 hunted down and persecuted, but not deserted [to stand alone]; struck down, but never destroyed; 10 always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the [resurrection] life of Jesus also may be shown in our body. 11 For we who live are constantly [experiencing the threat of] being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the [resurrection] life of Jesus also may be evidenced in our mortal body [which is subject to death]. 12 So physical death is [actively] at work in us, but [spiritual] life [is actively at work] in you.

My Valley Fever and Sweet Syndrome Journey Chapter 3…My Hope

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Biblical definitions of Hope in the Hebrew and Greek=To trust in, wait for, look for or desire something or someone; or to expect something beneficial in the future. Anticipation and the absolute certainty of God’s promises, confident expectation.

I was in Arizona, visiting my one and only grandchild and her parents. About a week before I was to come home, I developed a dry cough and thought I was reacting to the dry air and fires. I became very fatigued and attributed it to my Fibromyalgia and overdoing it.

I was wrong.  

Fast forward to October. By October 1st I was very ill and had to go to the ER on October 13, upon the insistence of my husband and neighbor. I ended up being transferred to Barnes Jewish and spent eleven total days there. I was very ill, and they did a lot of testing; I was in isolation and it was a time that the Father showed Himself over and over.

They transferred me by ambulance one evening from my local hospital, arriving at Barnes at 3:30am.  Suffice it to say, I would not recommend a two-hour ambulance ride on a bucket list! I put it on so I could check it off!

I was very ill and alone. I was peaceful, and I knew the Father was with me. We arrived on the 14th floor and the charge nurse introduced me to my nurse for that night and the next night.  

Here is where the Father affirmed his presence, and that He was my hope.

“This is your nurse. His name is Alphonse.”

“No, that cannot be,” I muttered quietly.  

I am sure they thought I was one of “those” patients.

“Yes, ma’am, he will be your nurse.”

“But that is my husband’s name!!”

No one could believe it!  

Who has that name? We all know of Alphonse Capone. But other than the Capone fellow and my husband, I knew of no others.

This nurse, Alphonse from Kenya, was such a blessing to me. His name alone was a comfort since my husband was not allowed to be there. Peace came over me. He was a believer, and we prayed for one another through those nights. 

He had a burden that he had been carrying for years, and I prayed over him. Night was the worse for my pain, so he prayed for me.

All the nurses heard the story and each time they came in my room, “Shang ra La” as I called it, I told them it could be a place of rest. The Lord let me love on every one of them and encourage them in their profession.

“Alphonse” never got to meet my “Alphonse”. In fact, he was not on duty with me after that second night. I told him we were adopting him, after all he was 35 and just a year older than our eldest. He was married, with two precious girls.  

I told our sons that they had an older brother, who just happened to be named after their dad. How “coincidental” is that? I don’t believe in coincidence. It was a “God thing” and will always be.

The doctors continued to test me for all kinds of diseases through that first week. I was in isolation, but with the Father’s continued presence, hope and support… we finally got some answers.

The Father will always be with you in your journey, no matter what it is. He is who I always knew He was. The journey may not be easy, but He will never leave you alone.

Be Still and know….He's "Got It"

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Do you remember when one of your kids came to you crying with a splinter and you were trying to get it out of a finger?  “Be still” were the two words out of your mouth.  Their purpose?  To make that little guy sit still so you could keep from digging that flame sterilized needle into your baby’s already pounding finger!

My little guys always were in the “know”.  They knew that their momma would get that splinter out.  If they were very still, that splinter came out quicker and with less pain. They trusted me, they knew me..I was their momma.

“Be still”…this brings quiet, calm, serenity to a very stressful time. We quit moving.  We stop.  We don’t talk, we just listen. In Hebrew grammar this means we surrender.  We surrender in order to know that God is in control as Ribbono Shel Olam, the Master of the Universe. We let go because we believe in the saving power of the Father in our lives.  We surrender, knowing that “God’s got this”.

Webster says “Know” means “to perceive or understand as fact or truth; to apprehend clearly and with certainty; To have established or fixed in the mind or memory: to know a poem by heart; to be cognizant or aware of.  The Hebrew, “yada” has several meanings, but in this passage it means “to have an intimate kind of knowledge.”

 God was assuring Israel, just as He reassures us in the middle of this hurricane!  

The winds are blowing, the storm is raging….Jesus spoke “Hush, be still” in Mark (4:39) We have literally lost our home twice to storms and it was not easy or pleasant. But we were never alone…

 May our hearts be still and know intimately, by trust that He’s “got it.”  

If I could take care of my son’s splintered finger, how much more can the Father take care of us?