Power Outage

Well the storm is over and our electricity has finally come back on. Quite suddenly, when the storm was over, our power went out. The internet was down, we crept around the house with flashlights after the sun went down, and we couldn't turn the tv on to watch the news. We had no hot water and we also could not cook. We couldn't do these things because we were not connected to the power.
That's what PD is like. We cannot do certain things any more because we are no longer empowered to do so. We have been cut away from the power - the energy - that propels us forward. Try though you may, you simply cannot do some things you once did.
It's also that way with God. As long as I'm connected to Him, taking in His power, I can do lots of things. I am amazed sometimes at what God works through me! But when I neglect His Word and neglect to spend time alone with Him, I begin to try to do things in my own effort, and find that I can't do so much.
Thank You, Lord that You are so powerful!
2 Corinthians 3:5-6 - "Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God who also made us adequate as servants...."

Danger Averted

Thank you, Lord! You have heard our cries and our petitions for mercy. We thank you - all of us who prayed - that you have averted danger. The fearful unknown has been reduced to the thoughtful past. We joyfully give thanks to You for You are great.

Praise Him in the Storm

Well, we've made it through the night and all is well. The Giant (Irene) has her big toe in the door. The rain is driving and gusting in a horizontal pattern. There are tornado warnings all around us. But we are safe and warm and dry. Our pets are secure. We have taken all precautions that we can: we are stocked up on water, flashlights have fresh batteries, we have a battery powered radio and first aid supplies with non perishable food items. We have prepared for every eventuality in whatever way we can. Yet we find ourselves under the merciful hand of God. We are in that place of total trust in Him, realizing that our own efforts alone are like the chaff before the wind.
It's the same thing with PD. We fight it in the ways we can (at best our efforts are puny), but in the end we must depend on our heavenly Father. He is our security; our comfort; our lighthouse in the tempest. We are not alone in the cold sea of humanity! We are not left to the whims of evil! Praise Him with me! I will praise you, O Lord in this time of uncertainty. I will praise You in this storm!
Reader, whoever you are and wherever you are, pray for us here - we are in the midst of a storm!

Hurricanes and Giants

Hurricane Irene, like a heavy giant is lumbering up the coastline headed straight for us. I cower before this ill-tempered woman of a storm. She is huge. My husband says we're staying put, much to my dismay. "We're on high ground", he says, but I wonder if there is any place high enough.
My son had a nightmare several months back where he was standing at the front door looking out upon an endless sea. Powerlessness is what I feel. I'm uneasy and haven't slept well. Dear Lord, I remind us both (You and I) that You brought me to New York for many reasons. Will You now abandon me to this beast who bullies and seems to rule? I want to go. Hear my cries and speak to my fears. I don't want to go through this storm.... I just want to go. I openned my Bible as I silently requested a Word. Here is what my eye fell on: "...so shall the sea be calm unto you, for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you." (Jonah 1:12)

We weather many storms - those of us who have PD or some other disease. We are taken to a place that we do not choose and made to face giants that we don't want to face. Turn to the One who will lead you through. Trust that He can and will lead you through the storms.

Slowly........

I am sometimes painfully aware that I am slow........ I speak slowly, I move slower than most, and time for me just seems to go slower than it used to. Actually, it's not so bad. What really does bother me though is being in the presence of someone who races through the day leaving me feeling like the tortoise who "raced" the hare. Some people talk as if they are reluctant to spend more than a moment to convey the barest minimum of their thoughts. You can see impatience rising up in them as they have to slow down just to listen.
To those of you who are like the hare, please don't make me feel bad for thoughtful words spoken in a slow southern drawl.... I would speed up at least just a little, if I could. And please don't think that what I have to say is any less important because it is delivered in a rhythm that is different to yours.

Rainy Days

It has rained buckets and buckets last night and all day. The constant sound of the downpour pelting the windows is somehow soothing. It makes me grateful of all my blessings: I have food, I have shelter, and much more. It's these rainy days that causes the garden to thrive and the beauty of nature to dazzle. So we take opportunities like this to settle down into the big easy chair with a book and something to sip on.
There are rainy days with Parkinson's Disease too. We learn to appreciate the good when confronted with the bad. What we gain and the lessons we learn in the rainy days of PD will nourish us and satisfy us in all of our tomorrows. Life has its ups and downs. We must learn to be content and use what we have learned in the not so comfortable moments of life. You would not have chosen to suffer with PD but take advantage of the doors it has openned. Don't neglect to grab the opportunities you have today because it's raining!

Thankful!

My husband just called me moments ago and told me that on his way to church, from the other 2 lanes of traffic going the opposite direction, a driver lost control of his car and came careening across the divider headed straight for the driver's side of my husband's car. He said that if he had been going any slower the car would have crashed into his side of the car. He didn't know how the car missed him....
Just a few weeks ago, my son was in my car when it was totalled by a driver running a red light at high speed. He is still undergoing treatment for injuries sustained at that time, but he got out of the car on his own. The car was totalled, but he was saved....
God averted disaster and saved my husband and son. He has spread His umbrella of protection over us. I hope that what the enemy meant for our destruction will now go out and glorify the great God who created us and saved us at Calvary.
With the psalmist I will say: "I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all Thy wonders. I will be glad and exult in Thee; I will sing praise to Thy name, O Most High"! (Psalm 9:1-2)

"Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the full armor of God.... (Ephesians 6:11-13)

This world is a dangerous place. I wouldn't ever want to face it without my heavenly Father!

My Saving Grace

Living with Parkinson's Disease takes strength and courage. It is an extreme disease that calls for extreme measures in surviving day to day. Prayer has been my saving grace. Matt Woodley says in his book, "The Folly of Prayer" that, "For the Christian, the essence of prayer is being with Jesus." He says, "Sometimes being with Jesus feels sweet and safe, but at other times prayer may feel like we've been strapped into a Manhattan taxi with a highly skilled crazy cab driver. The cabbie will deliver you to the promised destination, but he may make some high-speed twists, hair-raising turns and skull-jarring bumps that will leave you gasping for air. At times your job is simply to hang on." He also says, "Yes, God is kind and gentle, and prayer can be sweet. However when we pray, we also open our lives to the presence of the most powerful Person in the universe. And he's good but he's not tame. God is utterly undomesticated and at times incomprehensible."

Do you pray to get through your day? Do you pray to Jesus? If you pause to pray today, expect to encounter the Son of God. Expect to be in the presence of a love so great that it will change your life. He is not some magic formula that smoothes our path or that always gives the answers that we want, but He IS the answer to all of our problems. Pause to pray today to the One who can deliver you from your enemy.