Monday Meanderings - 01/30/2012

My sister is doing so much better! Praise the Lord! As it happened, her fall last week had nothing to do with this problem. Turns out, she has an infection in her hip in the back side, close to the tailbone in the joint. After many, many, many tests, blood work, X-rays, an MRI, and lots of sleepless nights, my parents were told that she will NOT have to have surgery to remove the infection (praise the Lord!!) which also means there is no culture to know what type of bacteria we are fighting. The course of action will be to treat this with antibiotics, then check her blood levels. If her levels improve, then they chose the right antibiotic. If not, then they will try another one. What has been going on in the last three/four days has been a literal "God thing!" Before the doctors did the MRI, they were convinced that they would know exactly what the problem was and how to fix it, etc. etc. etc. Nearly 24 hours later, my Dad was getting antsy, wondering WHEN they would know something. Finally a doctor came and told them that Noel's case had them all baffled. Children's Hospital doctors baffled?? Hmmm....  My Dad told me that he got a peace right then. God was doing something! From what the doctors could tell, the infection was not where it would normally be. They diagnosed her with some long name that NOBODY can pronounce or remember, but it is a type of infection that isn't common, but also isn't uncommon in children. The doctors began IV antibiotics and told my parents that she would be there at Children's anywhere from two to six weeks. Saturday night, however, she somehow rolled onto her stomach in her sleep - something she absolutely had NOT been able to do. Yesterday the doctors said that since she obviously felt better and her levels were dropping fast, they were going to go ahead and switch to oral antibiotics and see how she does. So they did that around 10 p.m. last night. If she handles it well, she will come home today or tomorrow. That is a HUGE improvement from less than 48 hours earlier when they were certain she would be there at least two weeks! :) Thank you all for your prayers. Keep praying!

Well, today is Monday and I have been working around the house. I cleaned Nathan's room and organized some areas that were, in my opinion, areas that I would FREAK OUT if Nathan got anywhere near. I covered all the plug-in sockets in the wall in his room. I reorganized his changing table area (it was horrendous). I bought a little toy basket for his toys and I moved his swing to the other side of the room (which will, sadly, have to be taken down and stored in the garage once my husband can help). I'm washing all the weekend laundry and constantly picking up after Nathan. :) Life is sweet!

Now, on to the meandering....

Bible Study... the Gospel of John

Memory Verse... John 1:14
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
  
Husband Encouragement...
♥ Iron his shirts.
♥ Do all I can around the house so he will have less to do when he gets home.
♥ Pray for him.

Train Them Up...
* Focus on discipline (he is getting to be a bit rebellious)
* Play with him
* Teach him, love him, pray for/with him
* Read to him more
 
Personal Goals...
* Spend quality time with Jesus each morning. Wake up to Him, first and foremost.
* Stay dedicated to diet and exercise
* Make time for myself. Sit down for 10 minutes a day with a book.
* Clean out closets and problem areas in the house.

New Habit of the Month...
* Cultivate joy
  
MUST Do...
* Work in Nathan's room* Go to post office
* Get gas in car
* Stop by Wal-Mart to pick up a small basket for bathroom
         
Zone... the study

Menu
M - Lasagna at Mrs. Janet's house
T - Salad and roasted mushrooms and broccoli
W - Salad and sauted' green beans
Th - Salmon Bell Peppers
F - Chicken Fajita Salad
S - TBD
Su - TBD
      
FUN THINGS!
* Celebrating my brother-in-law's birthday tonight
* Organizing and cleaning (yeah, I know...)
* Playing with my boy
 
3 things I'm thankful for today...
1. The Lord's healing Hand!
2. Family!
3. Water!

Great Things He Hath Done!

Has the Lord ever worked a miracle in your life?

Has He ever healed you?

Has He ever given you the strength to endure another trial?

Has our God ever delivered you from temptation?

Has Jesus ever spoke peace to your storm?

Has the Holy Spirit ever comforted your weary heart?

Has He ever led you safely through the darkness into His marvelous light?

Have His arms ever held you?

Has He ever answered a prayer?

Has He ever fought your battle for you?

Has His grace ever been sufficient as He said it would be?

Has He ever worked all things together for good in your life?

Has He ever been faithful to you in anything?


....He has with me.

Salvation would have been enough...but He went a little further and gave me blessings, gave me hope, gave me strength, gave me refuge, gave me a future. He has answered every prayer, has led me through every valley, and has been faithful to me in all things....just like He promised!

Psalm 9:10
"And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee:
for THOU, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee."
   

Isaiah 25:1
"O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee,
I will praise thy name; for THOU hast done WONDERFUL things;
thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth."
    

Hebrews 10:23
"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering;
(FOR HE IS FAITHFUL that promised)" 

In the words of Fanny Crosby's priceless hymn, To God Be the Glory (my favorite hymn of all-time), "And give Him the glory, great things He hath done!"

My God Still Answers Prayer

Over a year ago, a phone call came from a dear person in our family. I blogged about it then. This person did not originally call to talk to me, but began to open up and tell me things from his past. Years of sin and baggage came out and I heard the heartbreaking statement: it's too late for me.

My heart broke then and continued to break.

But aren't you glad that Jesus never gives up on us? This past week, my family and I did a revival in south Louisiana and that dear person was in attendance every night. He listened to dozens of songs that proclaimed the great love of God and he heard many sermons calling all sinners to repent and turn to Jesus. I knew that the Lord was surely dealing with him and spent all week hoping and praying that he would surrender.

...and my God answered that prayer.

Last night, after YEARS of praying and crying and asking countless prayer warriors to call his name out in prayer, my uncle Brandon found Jesus!

His story is amazing. Years of running and years of living in sin finally took their toll and he was tired of living the way he was living. Bro. Jack Daniels puts it perfectly when he says, "No one will ever change until the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of change." My uncle Brandon was tired of staying the same. He told us that as the invitation began, he prayed, heavily under conviction, that God would give him a sign. As he finished his prayer and looked up, God gave him the very sign he asked for. So he came down and, with tears flowing, he knelt at the alter and asked Jesus to forgive him, change him, heal him, and save him!

....and He did!

One of the most beautiful things, to me, is the look on a person's face when they have encountered Jesus for the first time. After my uncle rose up, his whole countenance was different. His smile was real. His eyes twinkled. His manner was warm, instead of cold. And he was full of joy!...and it showed!

Sceptics say that prayer is not as important as it used to be. I beg to differ. I have seen the power of prayer. Over and over again in Scripture, Christ tells us to pray. Pray continually, without stopping. We are to storm the doors of heaven with intercessory prayer for the lost, the broken, the poor, the needy; we are to bombard God's ears with prayers of faith. Christ WANTS to hear His children pray. He wants us to believe He can do all things. He DOES hear. He does care. And He does still answer prayers!


2 Peter 3:9
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."