I lack the words to tell you the effect this weekend has had on me. I went to visit my dear friend, Debra at the nursing home. She is fighting Stage 4 Brain Cancer. Besides the chemotherapy and some kind of radiation cap that she had to wear all the time, Debra has had two brain surgeries to try to stop the swelling and the growth of cancer. The doctors give her less than six months to live.
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Originally posted in ggmandy dot com on 6-19-2017
This week’s Five Minute Friday prompt is: EXPECT
I’m setting my timer for five minutes, and … GO.
Have you ever tried to say something nice and it came out different than you expect?
I have lost count of the times I have done it. I call it, “Foot-in-Mouth” disease. Yep! Open mouth, insert foot.
Follow along and learn about my first signs of fibro myalgia. It started long before I realized it.
originally posted on March 12, 2018
Thanks for checking on me the other day. You asked about my first signs of Fibro. As you know, I acquired disembarkment disorder after our cruise to the Bahamas in February 2011 (which has never gone away), followed by neck pain, and then I was hit suddenly with extreme, contracting back pain in September that year.
But as I have learned more about Fibromyalgia, it seems there have been several signs of it from early in my life.
Do you remember all those chest pains I had in middle school and high school?
They could never find anything wrong so they called it growing pains. Ha! If that were so I’d be about 6 feet tall! Anyway, it turns out that many of us fibro warriors have experienced “growing pains” at puberty. So my first signs of fibro were probably chest pains at 11 or 12 years of age.
It has also dawned on me that one major symptom of fibromyalgia is fatigue, tired for no particular reason. You know, I have always been tired. I get so tired from a shopping trip or band event. I would fall into a deep sleep immediately after arriving home from any kind of event. Really, I would fall asleep as soon as I got still.
Remember the jokes about me not being a good co-pilot when we moved from Ohio to Wisconsin?
I would sleep the entire way! When they finally realized I had thyroid issues, I thought that was the answer. And while the medication does keep everything stable, I still feel like there are more issues than what is being addressed.
So evidently, I have had fibromyalgia nearly all my life. It’s just that the cruise somehow awakened the monster.
Thanks so much for taking an interest in my life. I know you feel that your hands are tied because you live so far away, but believe me, your frustration would be the same if you lived next door. Your prayers and calls mean so much to me. It would certainly be nice though if we were closer. Then at least you could come to visit. But I would miss that even if I weren’t ill.
With Love,
This post was originally written for my Letters to Friends and also inspired by Kate Motaung’s prompt this week, “TIRED” at Five Minute Fridays. It has now been updated and included in my new series, Mandy’s Journey with Chronic Pain.
noun. – the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.
This post is inspired by the PROMPT: VALUE from Kate Motaung and the Five Minute Friday crew. in 2018. The challenge is to write for five minutes. No editing. I encourage you to go to the link-up and read what others were inspired to write.
Our world has re-defined what has value. Today, according to the world we have value because we have stuff, we have amazing talents, we know people. King Solomon said that life has no meaning or value.
But God values us as His children. Actually, He gives us our value. We are His children. And because of this, we have great value. We are nothing without him. We can do nothing without Him.
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How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
.
But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalm 13
I woke this morning, crying out to God, “How long, oh Lord? How long must our enemies win over us?
Then God replied, remember how many times King David said these very words. In his Psalms, he cried out to God but ended up praising him.
Several years ago, I wrote a series of devotions on perseverance. Read one here and sign up to receive them once a week for 30 weeks.
Then I remembered how King Hezekiah faced a great army. He wondered how he could defeat them.
But God said “I’ve got this. You won’t even have to fight.”
So Hezekiah, sent the choir out in front of the army singing praise to God. The enemy turned on themselves killing each other.
Let’s fill social media with praises to God. Fill it with lyrics or YouTube videos of praise to God. Do it all day long, all week long, and see what God will do. I’ll be doing it. If you want you can go to my social media and share from there.
This post was prompted by the gang at Five Minute Friday Each Friday we take five minutes to write on the same prompt. It’s a lot of fun to see what others are inspired to write from the same prompt. Give it a try or click and do a bit of fun reading.
We can sometimes feel that we just want Jesus to return. We need him here with us. But friends, He is here with us. He is within our hearts. And each of us, as the church, are a part of Him. We are His hands, His feet, His mouth, etc. – 1 Corinthians 12:27
It amazes me when God verifies His message to us from various unconnected sources at the same time. It tells me this is something serious to think about.
So Mike and I watched all three God’s Not Dead movies this week. We didn’t even realize there was a third, but that’s the one that got my attention. After seeing the movies, I sat down to do my daily study of the 7 Feasts of Israel. And the same message was brought out to me again.
We, the Church, are not just the temple of God, where He lives but we are the Body of Christ. That means we are His hands and feet. Others see Christ through our actions. So the question is... Are we allowing Christ to love and comfort others through us? Are we being Jesus to others? It’s something to think about.
We want to hold on to the “stuff” we have. We want to hold on to our own rights. But this wasn’t the way of Jesus. He gave it all up for us. And we should be willing to give it all up for Him.
Where your treasure is, there your heart is also.
Matthew 6:21
Where is your treasure? Are we storing up treasures in heaven or here on earth? You know, if we have treasures here on earth, they will not last. Treasures on earth will burn up. They will not be of value when we stand before God. The treasures that are stored in heaven are our actions – living like Jesus – Serving others. Those are the things that will last eternally.
We need to get our hands dirty. It’s not necessarily, getting our government to do these things.
Thees are just a few of the things we can do to “be Jesus”. These are the things that will last.
Give me your heart, my son,
And let your eyes delight in my ways. Proverbs 23:26
https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/445
Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee,
Swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee,
Filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose,
Every power as Thou shalt choose.
Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart; it is Thine own.
It shall be Thy royal throne,
It shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee,
Ever, only, all for Thee.
Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Consecration
I still love the old hymns and this one is a favorite; however, the further you sing, the more consecration you need. I wonder if this might be why people no longer want to sing the old hymns… TOO CONVICTING?
In contrast, this hymn could be my life song of commitment. Giving God everything I have… my hands, my head, my voice, my moments, my silver, my gold. I want to trust that He has the best in mind for me. I truly believe if I let it all go and place it in His hands that He has something even better to give me in return.
Sunday Lyrics ~ Hymn Favorite #takemylife #hymnfavorites Click To TweetThis hymn was written by Frances Havergal (1836-1879) was an unusually gifted and passionate saint. The daughter of a church rector, she was raised in Worcester, England and attended schools in England and Germany. In her love of learning, she grew to become an able scholar (even becoming proficient in both Hebrew and Greek) and a talented singer and pianist.
Perhaps you will be interested to know the origin of the consecration hymn, “Take my life.”
I went for a little visit of five days. There were ten persons in the house, some unconverted and long prayed for, some converted but not rejoicing Christians. He gave me the prayer, “Lord, give me all in this house!” And He just did! Before I left the house every one had got a blessing.
The last night of my visit I was too happy to sleep and passed most of the night in praise and renewal of my own consecration and these little couplets formed themselves and chimed in my heart one after another, till they finished with, “Ever, ONLY, ALL for Thee!”
https://www.challies.com/articles/hymn-stories-take-my-life-and-let-it-be/
Consequently, I am thrilled that contemporary artists are now incorporating the old hymns into their own style of music. Here’s Chris Tomlin’s version of “Take My Life”
In Conclusion, do you remember singing this old hymn in church? Do you like Chris Tomlin’s updated version? Leave your comments below.
(I love that “BUT GOD” statement. Don’t you?)
I care not today what the morrow may bring,
If shadow or sunshine or rain,
The Lord I know ruleth o’er everything,
And all of my worries are vain.
Refrain
Living by faith in Jesus above,
Trusting, confiding in His great love;
From all harm safe in His sheltering arm,
I’m living by faith and feel no alarm.
Though tempests may blow and the storm clouds arise,
Obscuring the brightness of life,
I’m never alarmed at the overcast skies—
The Master looks on at the strife.
Refrain
I know that He safely will carry me through,
No matter what evils betide;
Why should I then care though the tempest may blow,
If Jesus walks close to my side.
Refrain
Our Lord will return for His loved ones some day,
Our troubles will then all be o’er;
The Master so gently will lead us away,
Beyond that blest heavenly shore.
Refrain
on February 10, 2017 with the crew over at Five Minutes Fridays writing on the prompt word “Safe”. But it still is valid today, don’t you think?
“Normal is really just a setting on your dryer”. I find those words to be very true. But I want normal nonetheless. I want normal, but it seems elusive. Maybe normal is traditional?
The times as of late have established a “new normal”. I don’t want this “new normal. I want the normal of what was. I don’t have to change, but I hear people saying it must change and so I ask “Why?”. Why don’t you want it to be normal? Who doesn’t want it back to normal?
Somehow this push for accepting the “new normal” seems abnormal. Something is going on.
We were halfway there. The four of us planned to lead a witness team from the college over the weekend. We rented a car and headed to West Virginia. But halfway there we had a blowout.
Thankfully, there were guys on the team willing to change a tire! That done, we jumped back into the car and continued on. I began to sing out a refrain. Surprised, the other members joined in as we praised God for His watchful care.
God is always listening to hear us worship Him in praise. Do you burst out into singing when troubles come your way? Or maybe it is more like a grumble. I promise you if you sing praises, He will bless you beyond measure. Give it a try sometime.
One of my favorite refrains is from the old hymn, Victory in Jesus.
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.
https://www.metrolyrics.com/victory-in-jesus-lyrics-various-artists.html
This post was prompted by the gang at Five Minute Friday Each Friday we take five minutes to write on the same prompt. It’s a lot of fun to see what others are inspired to write from the same prompt. Give it a try or click and do a bit of fun reading.
