Tag: Prayer

No News is Good News

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Yesterday, on my personal Facebook page, I shared a video of my husband walking up a small grassy hill for the first time since undergoing surgery on his spine two weeks ago.

In the caption, I wrote, “I feel like today is Good Friday for more than one reason!” ❤️

I literally couldn’t have been happier if he had climbed Mount Everest. 🙏⛰️❤️⛰️🙏

In case you hadn’t heard, the whole thing started two Fridays ago when he was involved in a freak mountain biking accident. He sustained what the doctor called a “catastrophic injury” to his spine, resulting in instant numbness, tingling, pain, and weakness in all of his extremities. 😱

It was one of the scariest phone calls I’ve received in my entire life.

After being air-lifted to our local hospital, results of the MRI and CT scans confirmed what we were afraid of…he had a complete subluxation of the cervical spine…or in layman’s terms, the vertebrae in his neck were not only broken, but severely dislocated…and he would require emergency surgery.

Thankfully, his spinal cord had not been completely severed by the accident. However, the neurosurgeon informed us that it was in a very fragile state and there was a significant chance that the manipulation required during surgery could make matters worse, resulting in a permanent state of quadriplegia. 😱

This was NOT easy news to swallow, and in my desperation I remember asking if there was any other alternative…

The doctor assured me there were no better options — so, I signed the surgical consent and kissed my husband goodbye, not knowing what the future would hold.

That Friday felt far from being good.

In fact, it felt so bad that I remember thinking, “Whoever said Friday the 13th was unlucky, has apparently never met Friday the 24th.”

It was a helpless feeling watching him be wheeled away toward the OR.

The last words the neurosurgeon said to us were, “This is going to be a very long surgery and I will NOT be giving ANY updates during the procedure unless something were to go terribly wrong. If you don’t hear from me, things are going well. No news is good news.”

And off they went.

The operation began around 12:30pm on Friday afternoon and the next 12 hours were brutal.

We sat, we waited, we cried, we prayed.

Friends and family came to surround us.

And with every hour that silently passed, the surgeon’s words kept echoing as a small reassurance in my mind: “No news is good news.”

Finally, around 12:30am in the morning, the surgeon came in to update us.

The surgery had gone as well as it could have…however, there was no way yet of knowing if any permanent damage had been done to the spinal cord during the procedure.

We were not out of the woods yet.

He explained that post-op swelling could potentially cause additional compression to the spinal cord, resulting in permanent paralysis.

All there was left to do was watch and wait.

We spent the entire day Saturday in the ICU. I sat next to him all day and all night as he lie lethargic in the hospital bed, grimacing in pain from time to time. He was intubated and sedated —but I was as wide awake as I could possibly be.

Running on nothing but pure adrenaline, I sat anxiously for hours upon hours waiting to see how things would unfold.

Over the course of the day, we began seeing positive signs…first his legs moved…🙏🙏❤️❤️🙏🙏…then a few hours later, he began to move his arms a little too…and then a little more…🙏

As the nurses slowly weaned his level of sedation, he began to show signs of breathing on his own.

All of this information caused us to be cautiously optimistic, and we spent the rest of Saturday watching, waiting, and praying some more.

When the neurosurgeon came to do rounds, he was so pleasantly surprised by my husband’s progress that we finally allowed ourselves to fully embrace the hopeful signs we were seeing.

When I thanked the surgeon for all that he did, he simply said, “Don’t thank me. I just did my job…but I didn’t do this,” implying that a recovery of this magnitude was divinely disproportionate to the injury that he had sustained.

I was floored. I told him thousands of people were praying…and he didn’t hesitate to join us in giving the glory to God for such a positive outcome. 🙏❤️🙏

By 6am Sunday morning, my husband had been extubated and with some help from the nurses was standing up at the side of the bed for the first time!

I felt like I was witnessing a miracle…and I couldn’t wait to share the news!

I texted a picture of it to my husband’s side of the family.

That’s when my sister-in-law Christa texted back something that in my sleep-deprived stupor, I would have never realized on my own.

This is what she wrote:

“Call me crazy but it being Sunday, I just can’t help but think about the parallels here. No, he is not God’s immediate Son, but he is His child. Friday he wasn’t killed (thank God), but he was certainly knocked down on his back and it was hard to have hope! He stayed down all day Saturday and through God’s power Sunday he walked. God is certainly writing his story.
Friday is good because Sunday’s coming!”

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Her words were what inspired me to write this post.

She was right — the parallels of God’s love and mercy were overwhelmingly obvious.

Just like Jesus, my husband had been knocked down Friday. Stayed down Saturday. And rose up for the first time Sunday…all by the grace and the power of God.

The Great Physician had healed him.

Sometimes God needs to take you down into the depths…just so He can demonstrate the awesome power He has to raise you back up.

He demonstrated that power with Jesus’ resurrection, and with my husband’s physical healing.

But most of all, He wants to use that kind power in us spiritually — ultimately, He wants to save not just our lives, but our souls. (II Peter 3:9)

When you let God take you down His way, He will bring you back up more victorious than you could have ever have been before! This all starts by being buried with Christ in baptism and then raised up to walk in newness of life! (Romans 6:4)

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Seeing my husband walk up that hill yesterday meant so much to me…but the walk that Jesus made up to a hill called Mount Calvary will forever mean so much more.

Jesus didn’t walk up that hill for exercise, He did it willingly to die a cruel death on a cross for you and me!

He didn’t have a physical therapist walking along side him — but rather an army of Roman soldiers and an angry mob.

He wasn’t fully clothed with a gait belt for protection in case he fell — he was stripped of his clothing and given a crown of thorns to wear.

And though what happened on top of that hill that Friday looked like defeat…it was merely the beginning of the most victorious comeback in the history of the world.

The silence of Saturday was not a white flag of defeat…but simply one of those times when, like the surgeon said, “No news is good news” — literally! Pals…I can’t make this stuff up…the word “Gospel” literally means “Good News.” 😱❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️

And news just doesn’t get any better than that.

So, if you are living and breathing today and you’ve never dedicated your life to Christ through belief and baptism, what are you waiting for?

Then and only then can you have the peace of knowing that as unpredictable as this life is, whenever your last day might be, you will be ready to enter in those gates of Heaven.

Many have asked me how my faith remained strong in the face of trial…well, it helps to know that God is on your side and that no matter what happens to me or my husband in this life, as children of God, we have the kind of eternal hope that no one can take away, no matter what the outcome is here on earth.

I hope and pray you find that, too. If I can help in any way, please reach out and let me know. 🙏❤️

Until next time…

-PWAP

I Came in Like a Wrecking Ball

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A “memory” popped up on my Facebook newsfeed the other day. It was a picture of my youngest son playing in the backyard. 🥰

I love it when those kind of memories pop up — but something about this one in particular brought a smile to my face.

My son, who was about four years old at the time, was pretending to build something, so in true preschooler fashion, he was dressed for the part — wearing one of those bright orange safety vests commonly worn by construction workers (and one of The Village People 🤣).

Right after donning the vest, he had run over to me and proudly announced — “Look, Mom! I’m a destruction worker!” 😬

😂😂😂😂🤣

Now, obviously he meant construction worker…but nonetheless, truer words have never been spoken. 😜🤣

But in all fairness, he’s not the only “destruction worker” in the family…look no further than my oldest son’s bedroom and you will see that my husband and I have managed to spawn not one, but two destruction workers. 🙄🙄🙄

They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…and while most of the time I prefer to hold their dad accountable for passing down the destructive genes — I must confess that today I ended up doing a little destructing of my own…😬

You see…after dropping the boys off at school this morning, I stopped at Walmart to pick up a few things.

As I passed the home goods section, there was a large mirror that caught my eye. It was decently priced and I knew just the right place to hang it back at home. 😍

Only problem was finding just the right place to put it in the cart…

Like I said, it was rather large.

So, I tried putting it in the cart this way…and that way… and then the other way… and well, nothing was quite working. 🤔

So I thought, I’ll just set it across the top of the cart like so and just go real slow until I get to the cash register. I’m sure it’ll be just fine.

However…it was, in fact, anything but fine. 😳

With one hand on the mirror and the other commandeering the shopping cart, I bravely pioneered my way toward the end of the aisle.

So far, so good.

But just as I began to turn the corner…things took a “turn” for the worse…literally.

Let’s just say, in the words of Miley Cyrus — “I came in like a wrecking ball!!!!”

🤣🤣🤣🫣🫢😱😭🤦‍♀️

I hadn’t gone more than a few feet before managing to clip the end-cap display with the corner of the mirror, sending two ceramic votives free-falling to the floor. 🫠🫣🫢😵

I cringed as the sound of shattering glass pierced my ears.

Immediately, a man in the next aisle came over to help, followed by a Walmart associate.

Mortified, I knelt down picking up the broken shards and apologized profusely for causing such a scene.

The associate reassured me not to worry, everything would be fine.

As she radioed for backup, she also instructed me not to touch anything (I think she was referring to the broken glass, but at that point I wouldn’t blame her if she had actually meant “please, for the love of all that is good, don’t touch anything else in this store” 😂).

Thankfully, the votives were small and relatively inexpensive…and Walmart was not going to hold me to the old “you break it, you buy it” slogan.

I felt ashamed, yet relieved at the same time.

😔😔😔😔😔🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏😌😌😌😌😌

Truly remorseful for my lapse in judgment and thankful for the pardon I had received, I apologized again as I slowly wheeled my buggy away from the scene of the crime vowing to never attempt anything like that again.

In fact, I put the mirror back on the shelf — taking the incident as a sign that that purchasing that mirror was not, in fact, a part of God’s plan for my life…🤣).

***************************************

Of course…if you know me at all by now, you know that I couldn’t walk away from this experience without having learned at least a couple of invaluable lessons from it.

One of which is…as alone and singled- out as I felt in that moment, I’m sure I’m not the only one to have ever broken something in a store before. And I probably won’t be the last.

And the same is true when it comes to sin.

I Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind…”

Romans 3:23: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”

Spiritually speaking, we’re all “destruction workers.”

It’s been that way since Adam and Eve…talk about the apple not falling far from the tree. 🙄

And yet, destruction was never God’s plan for any of our lives.

That’s why He sent His Son Jesus to save and pardon us.

There’s no “you break it, you buy it” clause with Jesus around.

Why? Because Jesus already paid the price!

Romans 5:18: “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.”

Praise God!

That’s not to say that we should just go around “breaking things” on purpose like a bunch of rioters or vandals…as Paul writes, “Should we sin that grace may abound? God forbid!” (Romans 6:1-2)

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus says that the broad way of living that leads to destruction, but the narrow “aisle” leads to life (even for those of us who are more accident-prone 😉).

But how do you find that narrow aisle?

In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”

Jesus is that narrow aisle. He is the way to salvation and eternal life. And it was Jesus himself who said, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved…” (Mark 16:16)

In all my broken, clumsy ways, He has saved me. And He can save you too, if you will only let Him.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall…Jesus really is the fairest one of all.”

Until next time…

-PWAP

This too shall pass…

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“This too shall pass”…nobody really quite knows where that famous colloquial phrase originated…but credit has been assigned to many different possible origins…including ancient Persian, Buddhist, and Jewish sources. It’s also one of those phrases that people even sometimes mistake for a Bible verse (right up there with “God works in mysterious ways”). But alas, it’s not.

While we may never know the exact origins of the phrase, consensus is that it’s been around for a while — and from what I hear, it was even one of Abraham Lincoln’s favorite sayings.

As I was driving to pick the kids up from school today, the phrase popped into my head.

I was just driving down a two-lane road minding my own business, going the speed limit (maybe even 5 over 🤭), when all of the sudden, a big Dodge pickup that was all jacked-up on monster truck tires came up behind me loud and fast in my rear-view mirror.

He quickly gained on me until he couldn’t gain anymore. Something about the way his headlights were blaring in my rear view mirror even at midday, made me feel like he was metaphorically breathing down my neck…pressuring me to go faster or move out of the way.

But I know that road. And I know the speed limit. And I also know there’s a state trooper who likes to create a speed trap for unsuspecting drivers a few times a month, so no way was I going to let this guy pressure me into speeding up.

After a minute or so, he finally got the gist, and swerved into to the left lane, putting the pedal to the metal and leaving me to eat his dust.

But honestly, I was glad he passed me — it was a relief.

As I watched him speed down the road until his taillights disappeared completely, the phrase “this too shall pass” came to mind.

When we’re traveling the road of life, minding the speed limit (and our own business), there’s often times the enemy comes up and presses in hard on us as we are trying to stay within God’s limits.

Just like one of those aggressive drivers, he’ll come in looking all big, bad and intimidating…trying to pressure us to violate God’s laws.

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” – 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

The things of this earth are transient, fleeting, passing away — and that includes the temptations, persecutions, and other “light momentary afflictions” that the devil tries to bring about in our lives, provoking us with his own brand of “road rage.”

So…keep your eyes on the road. Keep those hands at 10 and 2— or better yet, let Jesus take the wheel — and just let the devil pass.

Because it will pass…it may pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass. 😉

Until next time…

-PWAP

Forgive and Forget

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The other day, my six-year-old son came running to me from the playroom with a flushed face and big crocodile tears in his eyes.

Assuming he had been wrestling around with his big brother again, I braced myself for impact as I anxiously asked, “Buddy — what’s wrong?!??”

He buried his head in the arm of my chair as he broke down into full-on sobs. I stroked and patted his little back, waiting to hear what had happened.

Eventually, through his tears he got a few words out a a time: “Mom…I’m…so…sorry!!!”

“For what?!?” I said.

“Remember that time…I broke the…the…the pirate flashlight? I’m sorry!!!”

Despite his conviction, I honestly couldn’t remember the incident at all …but I knew what he was referring to because he’s told me this story before at random intervals. Always with tears in his eyes. 😔🥺 He’s my youngest and my most sensitive child.

The supposed transgression apparently happened a few years ago when we were living in our previous house. From what I’m told, I bought each of the boys a new toy, but because my younger son liked his older brother’s toy better, he immediately threw his own flashlight to the ground, causing it to break. He couldn’t have been more than 3 or 4 years old at the time.

I said, “Buddy, you were so small…you didn’t even know any better.”

He began to cry again.

“Yes, Mom…I did know that it was wrong — but I did it anyway.”

I hugged him tightly…it was obvious his heart was breaking and mine was breaking for him! I looked at his quivering lip and tear-stained cheeks, and said, “Buddy, don’t worry — I forgive you…I forgave you a long time ago for that…and I don’t even remember it anymore!”

The next morning, I got up and as I was brushing my teeth, a thought hit me. It’s not a new thought by any means, but it nonetheless hit me in a very new, very freeing way…

God forgives me.

There’s been so many days that I’ve come to God in prayer, still riddled with guilt and shame over past sins.

He doesn’t literally speak back to me in prayer, but through His Word the Bible, it’s as if God is saying: I forgive you…I forgave you for that a long time ago…and I don’t even remember it!

“For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.” – Hebrews 8:12

“The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. He will not always accuse us, nor harbor His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins or repaid us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.” -Psalm 103: 8-13

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” – Romans 8:1-4

But there is only one way to take part in the forgiveness of God — by becoming His child.

Just like my son came to me for forgiveness…if we are children of God, we can come to our Father in the same way, also!

Because “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.” -Psalm 103:13

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:9.

If you are already a child of God and struggle with believing that God forgives you, I would suggest listening to a sermon called “Saved Without a Doubt” by Don Blackwell . All you have to do is click on the underlined words and it will take you straight to the video on YouTube. His message was a blessing to me and I hope will be to you as well.

Until next time…

-PWAP

Random Acts of Kindness

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When I found out that today is National Random Acts of Kindness Day, I couldn’t help but write a post. ❤️

As I was driving home this morning, I looked through the drizzle that was slowly collecting on my windshield and saw a rainbow starting to form in the sky.

I followed it all the way to the end of my street, where I was surprised at what was waiting for me at the end — It was definitely NOT you’re typical pot of gold…but rather (as you can see from the picture) it was a “pot” of a completely DIFFERENT kind. 😂 💩🚽😂

I pulled into my driveway as the rainbow began to fade, but I couldn’t miss such a Kodak moment, so I hurriedly snapped this picture of my neighbor’s port-a-potty at the end of the rainbow.

In a strange sort of way, I thought it was a PERFECT representation of what “Random Acts of Kindness” day is supposed to be — trying to be a rainbow in someone else’s otherwise “crappy” day. 🥰💩🚽🌈😂

But we all know we don’t have to wait for February 17th to do this kind of stuff…

The Bible has so many admonitions for us to be kind each and every day!

“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” – Ephesians 4:32

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 7:12

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” – Luke 6:35

“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” – Galatians 6:10

So, look for someone today…and tomorrow…and the next day, who you can be a blessing to. It could be someone you live or work with — or someone out of the ordinary! I guarantee it will make your day as much as it makes theirs.

Mahatma Ghandi is often credited with the idea that, “We have to be the change we want to see in the world.”

The Bible, it seems, is leading us to a similar conclusion — We have to be the good we want to see in the world.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16

We do good to spread good, but it’s not because WE are good — it’s because GOD is Good! Give Him the glory.

Maybe your random act of kindness today will be no more than a simple prayer for someone. Really, that’s the best place to start. (James 5:16)

And speaking of prayer…if you happen to be the recipient of an act of kindness today, don’t forget to thank God. 🙏🙏🙏 All good things ultimately come from Him and through Him. ❤️

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” – James 1:21

If something kind or good happens to you today, you can be sure it’s ultimately from God. The moments of goodness and mercy we get to experience in this life are just one of the ways we know He loves us, that He wants to call us His children, and that He longs to have a relationship with you and me.

He proved that to us in the ultimate act of kindness — Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. (John 3:16)

How do we receive that love? Through belief and baptism. (Mark 16:16)

How do we love Him back? Keep His commandments. (John 14:15)

Until next time…

-PWAP

P.S. If you have any personal Random Acts of Kindness stories you would like to share, please comment! I would love to hear them! ❤️

Snack Attack

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Our family is in a season of “hurry up and wait” right now.

We’ve done our part. We’ve put the leg work in. We’ve prayed about it. Now we’re just waiting…waiting on a big break…waiting on prayers to be answered.

And the longer we wait…the more doubt and fear creep in…trying to fill in the spaces where faith and trust belong.

Whenever we’re in a season like this, I always find myself questioning. I know God hears our prayers, but will He answer them the way we hope?

I think that little voice of doubt comes from the fact that I know God has NOT always answered my prayers the way I’ve wanted Him to in the past.

But the thing is…that’s not the way God works.

God is not some spiritual vending machine in the sky that we just drop a quarter into and out pop blessings like a bag of Fritos.

Yet, how many times do I treat Him that way?

How many times do I find myself standing there in front of that proverbial snack machine, down to my last quarter, pressing “A7” over and over again…only to watch that spiritual “bag of Fritos” get stuck?

And how many times do I resort to kicking and shaking the machine — trying to FORCE it to come out on my own terms??

Kind of reminds me of all those times back in middle school, when we’d stay after school for practice and then head to the vending machines for sustenance.

Some days my chips did get stuck. And though my hunger was real and it was warranted, I would have no other choice but to wait ‘til I got home to eat something.

But you know what?? When I finally did get home, 9 times out of 10, my mother would already be in the kitchen fixing my dinner before I even had a chance to ask — and a bag of Fritos ain’t got nothin’ on a home-cooked meal. ❤️

Our Heavenly Father is a lot like that too.

Blessings may not always pop out left and right like vending machine treats (even when we’ve honestly put in the time, money, and effort to receive them) — but keep the faith, because He’s already promised that He’s got something much better waiting for us at “Home.” ❤️

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” – John 14:3

While we’re busy focusing on a lousy bag of Fritos — He’s already whipped up a four course meal and saved a place for us at His table:

“…Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 14:15)

Trust God to answer your prayers in His way, and in His time — Because if we’re being honest…those vending machine snacks don’t hold any nutritional value anyway.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Until next time…

-PWAP