Snakes

Last week, I was visiting a friend when suddenly and without warning a snake was discovered in the garage.  And it was a big snake.  And it had a triangular head, which if you know anything about snakes, identifies it as poisonous.  Turns out it was a water mocassin or what is commonly called a Cottonmouth.  You don't want to mess with these!
I got to thinking about the sudden and unexpected arrival of danger.  Isn't that what it's like with our spiritual enemy, Satan?  We must be on guard against evil lest we be caught unawares.  We need to be wearing our spiritual armor all the time.  If we wait til danger is upon us, we won't have time to put it on.
Like a snake, the devil quietly approaches, hidden from most eyes until he is upon us.  We may be completely unaware of the peril we are in.  Then suddenly our eyes are openned and we know we are in trouble. 
What happened next, at my friend's house was this:  She got help.  She called on her neighbors and together they killed it. 
As members of the Body of Christ we are to be here for each other, ready to bear the burdens of our brothers and sisters.  We should give and receive comfort, encouragement, instruction, love, help, and the truth in love to name a few.
As a person with PD, you may think you have nothing to offer anyone else, but that would be the kind of lie the Snake would want you to believe.  You can offer all the things I just listed and more.  We don't always understand why God allows certain things to happen and probably never will (this side of heaven), but you don't have to.  There are needs around you today that can be met by you, no matter how physically disabled you are.  You are important.  You have things to offer that no one else can offer in quite the same way.  Ask your heavenly Father to help you concentrate on the people around you, and not yourself.  And as you help others around you, your heavenly Father will be of help to YOU!

Unbirthed Dreams

I just read an article where the author describes her dashed hopes for the future - now only a dream she once had dreamed - as a still birth or a miscarriage.  It occurs to me that this is what life can seem like to those of us who have been diagnosed with a disease, or suffered other tragedy.  We all had our plans and hopes of a future that did not include PD (or whatever your own heartbreak may be).  Dreams that started with expectant hope and desire for the life that we yearned for, somehow died, and were never allowed to ripen for the day of birth and growth.

I don't know why.  I won't tell you that I can make any sense of it.  It seems nothing but a tragedy just like death on a cross.  And why me?  What did I do to deserved this?  I am catapulted into a fog of pain, sadness and confusion - perhaps even anger and bitterness, when all I wanted was goodness.

But the one thing I do know in my limited knowledge, I cling tenaciously to.  It is recorded in Isaiah 41:10,13.

I am instructed and comforted:

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, surely I will help you.  Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand....  For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand."

And I am amazed as I see things that look for all the world like undeserved death on a cross, but eventually usher into my life the most precious parts of life that there are.

Weakness and Winks or Power and Love

I'm having a quiet day today.  My thoughts are uninterrupted and I am trying to listen to what the Spirit has to say. 

I want to talk about a side of God that we don't normally mention.  I find that most people like to think of Him as a warm, fuzzy, positive presence.  We like to think of His angels sent to protect us.  We believe that God wants us to be happy and without suffering and without pain - ever.  I think many of us see Him as a benevolent Presence that either does not have the power to really change much, or does not care to.  This is a God Who is weak.  He wishes that we would obey His commandments, but winks at us or shrugs His shoulders when we don't.  We tend to think He does not punish rebellion or disobedience.  We just aren't that concerned with comitting a sin here and a sin there because we know He will forgive. 

Think about this.  Take a moment to ask yourself if any of this sounds familiar.  Ask God to show you if these ideas are like some of your own.  Then listen for His answer.  Really listen.  Your life may depend on it.  Matthew 13:14-15 says this:  "You will keep on hearing but will not understand; and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; for the heart of this people has become dull.  And with their ears they scarcely hear.  And they have closed their eyes lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I should heal them."  These are the words of Jesus. 

Louie Giglio says that God is big - really really big, and FEROCIOUS and POWERFUL.  Also loving.  Genesis 1 tells us that God designed and created the universe and the earth and everything on it.  (What kind of power would that take?)

He HATES sin  (not dislikes or overlooks).  The Bible is very clear that He is not nuetral or half-hearted about sin.  Proverbs 6:16-19 says, "There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:  a haughty look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet swift in running to do evil, a false witness who lies with every breath, and him who sows strife among brothers."

Sin brings death, and God is all about life.  John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Would you - as a loving parent be tolerant of cancer or some gross deadly deformity in your child's life?  Certainly not!  And neither is God tolerant of sin in a person's life, because it results in death - eternal separation from Him.  Hell, is the finished product of sin.  God doesn't just send people to Hell.  They wind up there because sin has them in Hell's grip.  Unless a person receives the gift of cleansing and is delivered from sin and death by God's Son - Jesus Christ - he will have no hope of being saved.  Because we are born tainted in a tainted world we are not clean - we are full of sin.

You may be thinking, "But I'm a pretty good person.  I don't sin."  However the Bible says that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)  Indeed we are born in sin.  It is attached to us with chains that cannot be broken with human hands alone.  In God's fierce love for us He came up with a way to free us and be with us, and keep us from death and darkness.

God is love.  He has such incredibly deep and abiding love for you, and for me, that He gave His Son .  "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."  (John 3:17-18).  Did you get that?  God doesn't condemn, but we are condemned already.  God is fearless and will go to any length to save you.  Indeed He already has.

Would a weak dispassionate God who winks at sin do all this???  Ask God Who He really is.  Respectfully ask.  Whoever He is, He is greater than mere man

Shalom

I believe I have written to you before about what I am about to relate, but it bears repeating.

I have written a lot about prayer and how important it is.  I could never stress the importance of prayer enough.  Those of you who are not able to work have been blessed with days filled and brimming over with opportunities to pray.  The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing.  It also says that God's house is a house of prayer.  These bodies that we dwell in - like the Israelite's tent dwellings -  when they wandered in the desert for forty years - are temporary "tents".  Your body is the temple of God on earth.  It should be a house of prayer.

Recently, my mother-in-law had a mini stroke and had to be taken to the ER of a local hospital.  I was there with my husband.  It was a creepy experience as the ER was quite lively that night.  The first thing we were confronted with was a man that looked homeless walking up and down the hall muttering and talking to himself.  He had a disturbed expression on his face.

Moments later we heard cursings and screams from a young man declaring that nothing was wrong with him and he wanted to go home.  He was drawing quite a crowd of hospital staff.

Finally, there was an elderly man in the bay next to us, and every 3 or 4 seconds he would wail.  No one paid him any attention.

After about 2 hours, still bothered by all the commotion, I thought, "All these outbursts are stealing the peace that should be here."  Then out of "no where" the thought came that the man who was wailing was being tormented (not physically but mentally).  God seemed to say to me, "Pray for him - he's being tormented."  So, I did............

Immediately the man was quiet.  There were no more wailings!  I realized that as Believers we are the light of the world.  Everywhere we go, we are to pray for people.  Our prayers can bring peace and God's love into any situation.  Be creative today.  Find as many people as you can to pray for.  You will be a peacemaker.

Cool and Cloudy

Today is unseasonably cool.  It's cloudy with temperatures in the 60s.  Definitely sweater weather!  This is not my idea of a typical June day. 

Emotions are sort of like the weather.  One day you are hot only to be cool the next.  Our comfort levels change as circumstances outside of our control may be all over the map.  In other words, we are directly affected by the "weather" around us and we have no control over what may come. 

Certainly, for people with PD we are faced with new problems, new circumstances and unforseen events every day.  It can be more than we can handle at times.  So how do we stay steady and remain grounded in an unpredictable climate?  I do it through my relationship to Jesus.  If I didn't know that He is all powerful and loving I know I wouldn't make it through my crazy days!  I know that He has all knowlege and that He is merciful and forgiving.  I may not understand the why of what He does, but I don't have to.  Knowing who He is will be enough. 

When the weather turns bad suddenly, I know He is my shelter.  I trust Him to know what I don't, and I trust Him to be who He says He is.  Read your Bible today..........  You'll learn something new about Him.  It's all there - in the Bible..........  The answers....

Spiritual Ticks

I was recently doing some reading on Lyme's Disease. I read that some people with Lyme's have been misdiagnosed as having PD. I don't know whether that's true or not, but it got me thinking of spiritual parallels. Just like the danger of getting a tick bourne disease from a walk through the yard, we must be aware that there is much in the world that is evil. Unsuspecting the risk, we go through our day without a thought for the scheming the enemy (Satan) has done and the pits he has dug to try and trap us. He wants to shut us down – put us out of commission. He lurks in unsuspected places.



But thinking we are safe - and that there is no risk – and that we have matters under control – we are unaware of the danger. Evil does exist and it is sometimes unseen, or invisible to us just as a tick bourne illness that resides in the infected tick is not seen. Though small and undetected, it is not to be underestimated.



I'm not trying to scare you, and I'm not suggesting that behind every encounter or opportunity lies something evil. I'm merely suggesting that we are more dependent on God to keep us safe than we know.



Evil predators searching out a victim rove back and forth across all of creation – quick to detect our movement or catch our scent. Feeling the warmth of our breath these parasites stealthily follow our trail.



Just don't forget Who has you in the palm of His hand. Don't forget Who gives you armor for protection. Don't forget Who gives you warnings in His Word and tells you how to live and avoid calamity. He is at work protecting us even when we don't know it. Where our bodies are weak, He is strong. Let that encourage you today. He will never leave you, or forsake you!



Be as wise as serpents, but as innocent as doves.

Your Unique Gift

I was going through my paintings and I decided that I would donate a number of them (copies) to our church. As I went through them I reflected back to the time when I painted each one. I was amazed at the detailed work I have been able to do. My husband used to watch me as I painted and he marveled at how my hands grew steadier as I painted delicate details, like eyelashes....

We are all different. We all have some kind of a handicap, and we all have unique giftings from God. Nobody really fits a set pattern, because we are all different. In my case, art has been one of my gifts, but I am challenged with Parkinson's Disease. So what does God do? He gives me quiet hands that grow steadier as they are called upon to paint tiny details. Whoever heard of a person with PD who paints detailed miniatures? Did I have tremors? Yes, but when I painted they seemed to go away.

God enabled me to do what He wanted me to do. And He will do the same for you. Fate or random chance does not decide what I can or cannot do. It is God who decides. He has a plan for each one, and no two plans are the same. Take time to really thank Him for what He has enabled you to do. Thank Him for the joy it brings to you and to others. You are a joy to Him!

Little Wishes - Big Miracle

I was trying to think of an interesting topic for my blog today. Let's see......... I had a tooth pulled. Unexpectedly brush fires started up not too far from where we live.... I dropped some clothes (a lot) at the drop off box.... I had a doctor's appointment.... Another day of victory so far as my food intake! No junk or sugar or wheat. Just good stuff.

Nothing noteworthy or extraordinary has happened. But do you know what I JUST realized? One of my dreams came true today! Just a few years back, when my body could hardly do a thing, I made a wish. I wished that I could do little things that most people never even think about.... Normal things. Like walking across a room without effort, or buttoning my own shirt.

I asked God to heal me, and today - years later - I am experiencing this very thing. I had forgotten this tiny but great miracle.... Some measure of healing has come from my heavenly Father.

Thank you dear God. Thank you for loving me. I love you too....

From Anna

Light Up the World

The sun has gone down and the darkness has settled down around my house. I can't see beyond my porch, and even that is filled with shadows, shifting like clouds in a blue sky. My eyes can penetrate very little, and my mind wonders if it really sees those faint indistinct outlines of forms that morph into shapes without names.
Parkinson's Disease entered my life like that.... like the sun sinking into the spreading darkness. It is filled with fears and monsters with ugly names.
Everyone has their own personal darkness. It's different for us all. But, as Believers we have this in common: "The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light. And to those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a light dawned." (Matthew 4:16 NAS)
We are not without comfort. We are not without purpose. We are not without beauty or a deep abiding faith that can only come from living in a dark place. Like a candle that lights the darkness, we are the hope of the world. Until the world sees you shining in the darkest place- they will not find faith, hope or love.

Intimacy

Parkinson's Disease is a long term condition. It's not something that you can take a pill for and like a headache have it go away. It's a progressive disease.

I was thinking about relationship with God and how it's an ongoing interaction marked with growing intimacy and trust. As I look back over the years, I can see how PD encouraged my relationship with Him and has been the catalyst for a deeper intimacy and growing trust. Once again, I realize it's problems, illnesses and sickness that draw me closer to Him.

Thank you heavenly Father.

Autobiography - the Final - Nine

I cannot even begin to describe the joy that rose up in me after the surgery. God had given me the answer to my prayers. Through technology He had done the impossible. Through the doctors that He chose, He worked a miracle in my life! Through the brilliant minds that He gave them, and the hands He instilled with skill, came the dream I had so long hoped and prayed for. I was overwhelmed with a sense of His tender love for me.

God has been with me through every step of my life including the Valley of Parkinson's Disease. He listened to my cries for help and healing. It is through Him that healing has come. Truly He is the God for whom nothing is too hard. I am so grateful. If I had not been living in New York, near to doctors who perform the surgery it wouldn't have happened. My symptoms just "happened" to be the very ones that the surgery corrects. It is not helpful to all people. God had planned my life so that I would be where He wanted me and when so He might be glorified. I rembered the verse He had given me years before: "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified by it." (John 11:4)

Today, I enjoy moving around without discomfort and going where I choose and when I choose. My body is no longer my prison. Praise to His name!