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“Is She Going to Make It?”

Anxious!

Have you ever had something occur in your life and you get really anxious over it?  I am sure you have.  We all have events that take place that gets us anxious.  There are things that take place where we need some answers but we don’t know what the answer is and we aren’t sure where to get it.

I recall an event in my life that led me to this anxious feeling.  As far as how old I was I am not really sure but I think I was around 14 or 15.  At that time my dad was traveling on the road for his work.  So he would leave on Monday and then arrive back home on Friday.  We lived in an old farmhouse that was built back in the 1800s.  I loved that house.  We had two little ponds with several apple trees around them.  When we moved into the place we acquired a male and female goose and also one male duck and two female ducks.  They were lots of fun, most of the time.

Devastated!

One morning when my dad was out of town, I went out to feed the animals.  One of the ducks never arrived for the feeding time.  I grew concerned and went looking for her.  I found her in the second pond.  She was out in the middle, soaking wet.  As you know when you see a duck, soaking wet you know that there is a problem.  I don’t rightly remember how I even was able to get her but I finally got her.

As I picked her up I saw that she had a big hole in the back of her neck.  It was around the size of a silver dollar.  I could see the tubes that run through the throat.  She also had received damage to her body and her oil glans.  Things did not look good for her.

Let her go.

My mom was trying to figure out how we could put her to sleep.  I was not in favor of having her put to sleep.  I am an animal lover and I will do whatever it takes to save an animal if I possibly can.  So I said to my mom that I wanted to talk to dad.

For those of you that are younger it is hard for you to believe but cellphones were not a thing then.  And because my dad was on the road we could not readily get a hold of him.  He called us each day, morning and evening.  I can’t remember for sure but it seems the time to talk to him had passed.

I can’t readily remember how we got a hold of him.  But it seems that we had to call the main office.  He called into the office more than once a day at times and then, of course, when he got the message he would have to use a payphone.  He finally called us and I was so grateful.  When it came to animals my dad has the same heart I do.  And the reality is that God has the same concern for His creatures.  He sees when the Sparrow falls!  He loves the creatures that He has created.  My dad told me to call a vet and see what they suggested.

What?

Remember no Internet.  I had to grab a phone book and start looking in the yellow pages.  When I dialed the first vet I was shocked at the response from the receptionist.  She started laughing.  There was no sympathy or concern.  She let me know that they didn’t treat ducks.  I got the same response from one or two more vets.  At that point, I felt discouraged but unwilling to give up.

I finally got a sympathetic receptionist and doctor.  They let me know what cream I could get to put around the edges of the hole as well as her body.  It would take some work putting it on, keeping her warm, and getting her dry.  I did have concerns about her oil glans but the vet assured me that he felt they should heal without a problem if I just followed the directions.  There was still a little question but it was so worth trying.

Preparing

Some of the memories have gone from me, but my mom must have taken me in somewhere so we could get what we needed and get started with the treatment.  We also were able to find a large box to put in the house to place her in.  Somehow we put some heat in the box to help get her warm and try to get her dry.  You wouldn’t think it would be that difficult to get her dry but it was not easy.  It was amazing to be able to learn what those glans do to protect them.  And realizing how the oils coming from the glans keep the water from soaking in and sheds the water was so fascinating.

…Stomach

It did require a strong stomach in order to treat the duck.  I did not really want to do it before or right after eating.  As I recall my mom did not want to do it at all.  We had bought this cream and the vet said to take it and smear it around the opening of the hole.  It amazes me that the hole was not bloody.  So it was not to terribly difficult to smear it on.  I did wear gloves to do it though.

Now when it came to her back and wing area it was bloody.  It wasn’t massive amounts though, thankfully.  I can’t remember for sure but I think I used the same cream on them as well.  If I am remembering correctly it was a process that I did more than once a day.  The poor baby was so scared but seemed to know that I was helping her.  She allowed me to do what I needed to do without any complaint.

Healing

I don’t remember how long it took but her glans started to heal and the oils started to work again.  There was a question as to how long or if the glans would heal.  When we took her out to the pond for a test run I was so grateful that she did not get all soaked again.

It took quite a while for the hole to heal and fill in again.  But it finally did.  It amazes me at the healing power that God has put within our bodies and the bodies of an animal if we give it the right conditions.  God has made everything with amazing wonder.  And as I study more and more about our bodies I am even more amazed.  We definitely did not get here by chance.  All of creation was designed with such amazing intricacy it is impossible to be put together by chance.  We serve such an amazing God.

Thinking…

I started thinking about this experience a few days ago and it made me think of our lives in relation to God.  To most of those around us, we may look like an impossibility.  Our lives are full of holes and so many wounds that they may think for us to be made whole again is out of the question and fully impossible.  How can all those wounds be healed?  How can there be any hope?  I mean they are soaked in sin.  They are bleeding and fearful, which is covered with anger.

They don’t reach out to someone for help because of their fear of rejection.  So you try to find someone that can reach out to them.  Everyone you turn to laughs at you.  “You have got to be kidding me, you really think there is hope for them?  We don’t work on those kinds.”

But then you finally find Someone (the right Vet) that gives you some help in knowing where to turn.  He tells you about this amazing Salve that can help to heal the wounds.  There is no guarantee that the wounds will be healed because there is a factor that can keep those wounds from healing.

Choice…

The most amazing salve that can help heal the wounds of the most wounded soul is God’s Word.  There are a couple of factors that can stop the healing.  First, it has to be applied with prayer.  Because the healing is brought about by the power of the Word as it is applied through the power of the Holy Spirit.  And the second factor is the power of choice.  The person that is wounded has the choice to be helped or not.  Some people reject help.  They are so used to going through life with holes in their heart and with bloody wounds that they feel uncomfortable being out of their “comfort zone”.

They also need to be surrounded by those that are allowing the Word to work in their own lives.  People who have allowed the Word to so pray their lives that they have a warmth that will draw and warm those who are cold.  Assembling ourselves together with others helps to keep all of us warm.  It is like a lump of coal, if you take it out of the fire it will become cold.  Or if you take a cold piece of coal and lay it in a fire it will start to warm and glow like all the others.  Again it is still a choice.  You can’t force someone to join in and be close to those that can warm him or her.  But we can continue to love and to draw them.

Faith

It does require us to have a strong “stomach” (Faith).  Reaching out to people that are wounded requires a faith that will withstand the wounds that may lash out at us.  Wounded people can be full of so much anger that they lash out at those that even love them.  But on the same token we can be so turned off by the way they portray themselves because of their wounds that we may not want to even be around them.

By faith, we need to claim the promises of God and know that the “Salve” (Prayer & the Word of God through the power of the Holy Spirit) will accomplish the healing.  It may take longer than we think but we need to continue to be consistent.

The healing may take time and may not happen depending on their choice but never give up.  If the duck had fought me and resisted she would have never lived.  The same is true as we work with wounded people.  But we should never give up.  Even if they will not accept anything we can pray for them.

Also, remember as people surround us that there are those that we don’t even realize are wounded.  So we need to be sure that as we interact with those around us that we are much in prayer.  We need to be as Jesus was when He was here on earth.  The method that Christ used on those around Him is how we should treat all around us.  It is His method that will when the heart of each person.  Remember it is not about us and what we think it is about Christ and what He thinks. As you look at people see Christ hanging on the cross for them.  Love them with a Christ-like love that only He can give as we surrender self to Him.

Healing

Healing can take time.  But the most amazing thing is that it will happen and they can be the most amazing people when their wounds are healed.  They become stronger than they have ever been as they cling to the Word and allow the Holy Spirit to wash them clean.

Maybe you who are reading this are the wounded one.  Let people love you.  Read God’s Word and claim the promises that He has for you.  Spend time in prayer pleading for God’s blessing.  Do not let Him go until He has blessed you.  There may be those around you that will hurt you, even those who claim to be Christians.  But don’t get discouraged because no matter what people think God loves you with an everlasting love.

Dear Father,

I ask for Your wisdom, as a Christian.  Help me reflect You to others.  I pray that each of us will see the value to work with others as Christ worked.  Help us to set self aside and only see You.  And allow You to work through our lives.

Lord, I also pray for those who are wounded.  I prayer that You will wrap reaches arms around them and that they will feel those loving arms.  Forgive us if we have wounded a hurting and fragile person.  Keep us focused on You and the love that You would have us spread to these hurting ones.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Remember to draw close to Jesus; He is the healer and reach out to those around you.

Love you all!

Do you have an experience to share about how God has helped in your healing process?  Or maybe it has been a person who has helped you?  Comment below about your experience.

If you are hurting and have no one around you to reach out to, reach out here.

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“Please, I Want to be With You Even if It Kills me!!”

Please!

Have you ever wanted to do whatever it took to be with someone?  You knew the hardships that it would take but it did not matter because you loved them.  The love was so deep that the difficulties seemed small in comparison.

Then there is the other side where you have put all the effort into being with that person that you love.  You finally were able to be with them and then they reject you.  It is hard for you to believe that this is happening but it is.  The agony that you feel is beyond words.  It seems to them that it just takes too much effort on their part to accept you so they leave you to suffer with no thought what you have done for them.

Our Dog

We have a wonderful golden retriever that we got in 2006.  He has been the joy of our family’s lives.  Rascal loves everyone he meets, on the most part.  He has recognized two bad people that have come to our home in the almost 13 years we have had him.  Rascal is a protector of his family and he has an unconditional love that is beyond words.

He has had many trials in his life.  He was backed over accidentally when he was sleeping in our driveway, which broke his back.  After much agonizing pain and surgery, he was put back together.  I wouldn’t say he was normal but he repaired well.  I remember how much pain he was in and how he couldn’t walk.  He slept on our living room floor.  I remember sleeping beside him and how he would nudge me to be comforted.

Then I remember the time that he had a tumor the size of a soccer ball in his tummy.  It turned out to be a big blood clot and not cancerous.  But he had to have surgery again.  And then he had cancer in a toe, which they removed.  Despite all these things he loves his family and wants to be with them.

Walking

One of the things that he has always loved to do is go walking and hiking with whoever will take him.  He gets so excited!  He recognizes the signs when someone is getting ready to go for a walk.  Even in the summertime when you are not grabbing a coat, he knows.  He knows when you’re putting your shoes on to go to work or to go walking.

Rascal has gone hiking up our mountain with us, taken mile hikes or even several mile hikes.  He doesn’t seem to care as long as he can go with us.  If we were going somewhere and the van door was open we would be sure to have an extra passenger. And getting him back out of the vehicle when he was not allowed to go was tough.  He just wanted to be with us no matter what.

But because of age and all the things he has been through walking has become more difficult.  He still gets excited like a puppy.  And he will still head out on a walk with you but often turns around and goes home after a short time.

But not today

But this day was different.  The whole family, excluding one, was home and headed out on a walk.  As we walked down the private road he was coming with us.  But when we started up the side of the mountain he stayed down on the road and just wondered farther down the road.

We were visiting and taking our dear time getting up the hill to a landing before going farther up the mountain.  Once we got to the landing we stood and talked and played a little with the snow.  As we started up the mountain again we saw Rascal laying in the snow on the other side of the landing.  We realized what he had done is gone to the end of the private road and headed up the neighbor’s driveway.  Once he got to the private drive that headed to the landing area he hiked up near to the area where we were.  The problem was is this driveway had not been plowed so there were several feet of snow.  He was only going down into the snow probably 6-12” but it still made for a hard hike.

He couldn’t walk

By the time we found him, he could no longer walk.  His back legs were done for and he could not even get up.  We thought if he rested for a little bit that maybe he could walk but he still could not.  So two of my sons each took turns carrying him down the mountain the way that we came up, while I ran back to the house to get a sled.

He has never liked to ride in the sled but when we brought the sled and sat it next to him he immediately started crawling into it.  He realized his need and realized we were trying to help him.  We brought him back to our house and dumped him on the living room floor because he couldn’t even bring himself to get out of the sled.  He lay there for several hours before he finally tried to get up.

Life will never be the same for him.  But what amazes me is his perseverance.  He loves his family so much that he wanted to be with them and he was willing to do whatever it took to be with us, no matter what the cost, even if it killed him.

It made me think

How much do I really want to be with God?  How much do I really love Him?  The reality is that if I really love Him I will want to be with Him all the time.  I will go where He wants me to go.  And whatever He asks me to do I will do it.  I will do everything no matter the cost.  No matter how rough the road and the trials that may come my way I will continue to go toward God not away from Him.  Just like our dog Rascal kept pulling himself up the hill I will continue to persevere in my walk with God.  I won’t give up when the way gets hard, no matter what pain may come.

But even though I will not give up and keep persevering I will not try to do it on my own.  I may feel at times that I am on my own but I trust His promise that He will never leave me or forsake me.  Rascal has had his share of BIG “trials” that he could not have made it through if we had not carried him and guided him.  When he was run over we had to carry him from the house to outside several times a day so he could go the bathroom.  It was hard for him because he wanted to do things on his own but we could not let him.  And even though he really couldn’t he would want to try but we had to stop him so he would not get more damage.

To me, that sounds so much like us.  We don’t want to give up we want to do things on our own even though it is going to cause us damage.  There is a difference between Rascal and us.  God does not force us to allow Him to carry us through as we forced Rascal.  So we go ahead and do things on our own and cause more damage to our lives.  And here is the crazy part.  A lot of times when things don’t turn out and we go through more pain we blame God.  We can learn a lot of lessons from God’s creation.

I want to come to the point that I want to follow God and stay close to Him even if it kills me.  And the reality is that is where we need to be. How many people have died because they stood true to God?  We need to come to the point that He is all that matters in life.  He is our all in all.  Does that mean life will be smooth and easy? No!  But He will carry us just like we carried Rascal.  And just like Rascal did not resist we need to allow the Lord to carry us and not resist.   The most wonderful thing is no matter what has happened in life when you come to God for help He does not reject you.  Nothing is ever too bad for God.  He loves you more than you or I can even imagine.

Dear Father,

I believe we have such a short time left on this earth and we need you more than ever.  Please bring us through whatever it takes to help us trust You and allow You to carry us through the tough times.  We need to have a heart for You and we need You to help us even to have that heart.  Take our stony hearts and give us a heart of flesh.  I want to thank and praise You for what You are going to accomplish in our lives.  Thank You for always being there and never rejecting us when we reach out to you.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Make the decision today to stay connected with God even if it kills you.

Love you all.

Have you had a time in your life where you knew God carried you through?  I would love to hear your story.  Share it below.

For those that were looking for the next in the series that I have been writing, it is still coming. After having the experience shared in this blog this last week it was on my heart to share so I have.  Stay tuned for the next in the series of “Maintaining Healthy Immune Function” not only physically but also spiritually.

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“I’m What?!!”

Have you ever had someone give you a compliment about yourself?  It really doesn’t matter what the compliment may be.  But do you have the tendency to think to yourself,  “If the person only really knew me and how much of a struggle it is to do that.  I am really a failure.”

There are really two types of people, those who are narcissistic and when complimented they just gloat over it and they are constantly saying how great they are.  Or there are those that are constantly putting themselves down for their mistakes and can’t see beyond who they are, they are negative about almost everything.

Neither one of these types of people are in a good place.  A narcissist is so selfish he can’t see beyond the end of his nose.  God is not pleased with this kind of behavior.  The good news is that He is willing to forgive and help us be an unselfish person.

On the other hand the person who is always being negative about everything is also in a bad place.  God has given you talents that He wants you to increase and to use in blessing others.  He created you.  He made you with what is necessary to become what He wants you to be.  And when we put down ourselves we are saying to God that we don’t like the way He made us.

When we talk negative we become what we talk and think.  And we can cause others to become what we say.  I think of those we are closest to, like our spouse and children, if we talk worthless words that is what they will become.

My daughter has to do some school through the summer because she was not as diligent as she should have been.  I was getting her started the other day and before I even started to explain stuff she started saying,  “I can’t do it.”  Negative!  I told her that she needed to change her mindset.  She needed to be saying what she wanted the outcome of her thoughts to be, “I am able to do this work.”

Here are some things that I would encourage you to think about and put into practice.

  1. Rephrase your negative words to positive words. Every time negative thoughts or words come to your mind rephrase them into a positive sentence.  And then think or say them.  For example when your child seems to always try to take charge of everything instead of saying negatively, “Quit, you are always trying to take charge of everything, now just go.”  Say, “You have the qualities of a becoming a great leader.”  And then of course with a Christ like spirit you can direct your child.
  2. Be grateful. When we start our day with a negative attitude everything goes wrong.  Start the day with writing down things to be grateful for.  It might be hard to find things within your family but I would work on this.  When we see everything through negativity it is hard to break.
  3. It is okay to have good things about yourself. Some of us can tend to think it is wrong to have good things about ourselves.  And definitely this can become a pride issue.  That is why we always need to recognize Who has given us these abilities.  When we talk negative about ourselves we are putting down our creator.
  4. Say what you want to become not what you think you are. A lot of us as Christians stumble in our walk with the Lord and we then make negative comments like, “I will never make it.”  What I would encourage you to do in any situation is say what you want to become.  “I am forgiven.”  “I am an overcomer.”  “I am Christ like.”  And this can be in every area of your life.  What ever you want to become speak it as if you are what you’re wanting to become, as you work toward becoming what ever it is.  For me I have started to write.  I am not considered a writing but as I work toward becoming better at it I can still say, “I am a writer.”  Or “I am a blogger.”

Believe me this is an area that I struggle in.  So you are not alone.

Dear Father,

You have made each of us unique.  You have given every one of us abilities way beyond what we develop.  Help us to be more positive with our thoughts and words.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Start today to speak and think positive thoughts.  And remember, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13

Love you all.

What do you do to help keep your thoughts and words in a more positive line?