Sometimes It's the Little Things

Well, I must say I am a happier camper tonight. I've watched God work a miracle over the last 24 hours and I'm just plain excited. My mom improved so much over the last 24 hours that her physician had the ventilator removed this early evening. She's back on a small nose tube to supply oxygen. MAJOR answer to prayer.

How dramatic was this? We were told that if everything went as they (hospital staff) hoped, she might be taken off the ventilator Wednesday morning...if she was ready. They were very cautious. Tonight, while Di and I were sitting with her in the early evening, her attending physician came in, checked her readings, charts and her and declared, with some excitement, that he saw no reason to keep the tube in.

How could this happen - from near death experience yesterday to breathing well today? I have only one answer. God answers prayer. So, while most of us take this whole breathing thing for granted, I have to say that for us it was a very big "little thing" that made our whole night!

Okay, I got a little somethin'

What I got right now, is a whole lot of need for prayer for my mama! We almost lost her today. It's a very sobering thought.

My brother drove 3.5 hours to stay with my dad today, just to keep him company. He'd called me yesterday and asked if I thought it was a good idea or was he worrying too much. I thought it would encourage dad so I strongly encouraged him to come.

And it's a good thing he did. While visiting this early afternoon, my mom started having an extremely hard time breathing - gasping for air. My dad kind of froze, not knowing what to do, so my brother took steps - a few of them actually, to the nurse's station, requesting help. The next thing they knew the room was full with a respiratory team and a cardiologist who "just happened" to be on the floor at the time looking in on a patient he'd operated on. They worked quickly to get her 'intubated' (ventilator) and under heavy sedation.

Within an hour or so she started to stabilize a bit, her oxygen levels showing an upward trend. All in all, a very scary few hours.

I Got Nuthin'

It must be something in the air. All of a sudden, I only think is short phrases...after that, "I got nuthin'!" Seriously, it is one of those rare (for me) seasons in my life where I have very little to say. (Right now, someone reading this blog needs CPR...QUICK CALL A WAHHH-MBULANCE!)

I am pretty sure it's because I have been under some relatively heavy mental and emotional strain. Work's been tense as there have been layoffs and I was, until about 3 weeks ago, in a very precarious position. In fact, I accepted an offer that is approximately four steps down on the ladder and has little or no room for growth in order to stabilize my situation. Last week, four people in my division were laid off. I am firmly convinced that taking the 'lesser' job kept me employed. I think of all the lessons in my life and the one that stands out right now is that humility is in my future...so be proactive! By not letting my ego get the best of me I was able to continue to work and, in fact, my new position has the potential to be very fun and exciting.

Through all the adversity, of which work is only one small part, I hang on to the fact that I am in the protective arms of a loving Father. He is not surprised, nor is He on the defensive, trying to make sure I'm alright. Just the opposite, in fact, He is orchestrating events in order to help me reach my destiny in Him. The character I need to fulfill my destiny is shaped in adversity. Strongholds that create obstacles are revealed and broken in adversity.

To borrow from a famous opening line (with my apologies to Charles Dickens), it is the best of times and it is the worst of times. After that, I got nuthin'. At least until next time. Peace and blessings to you and yours. "And God bless us, everyone!"

I'm Just Sayin'

We recently had another conference (man we are blessed with conferences this year) and I am now catching myself using a favorite catch-phrase of our speaker, "I'm just sayin'!" Hah! I smile every time I even think about it. Why? Because he used it (very effectively, I might add) to help soften some pretty bold and strong statements.

I find that I'm using it more often for humor with my wife lately, but I've tucked it very neatly into my toolkit for those situations that may require an ever-so-mild disclaimer. :) Not that I need disclaimers mind you...well, okay...maybe I need them sometimes. Uh, okay several times. Oh, fine! Most of the time. Whatever! I'm just sayin' it's handy to have little things like that tucked away to help defuse tense situations. That's all I'm sayin'.

Wave Upon Wave

I have been hearing the chorus of one of my favorite songs in my head over the last few days. You know how you get a song "stuck" in your head and it just won't seem to leave? Often it's a song you may not like so much, but in this case it's a song I love, so I don't mind. Anyway, in the chorus are the words, "Waves of mercy, Waves of grace".

What great picture as we think of God's infinite capacity to love us with mercy and grace. Every time I sing or hear that song (okay, I'll admit it, I sing it every time I hear it) I think of the ocean. And every time I'm standing on the beach, watching the waves roll in, I think of the song. I am profoundly moved by the power of the ocean and every time I'm near it, I am reminded that God, even more so than the ocean, is dynamic, full of movement, full of life and if we can catch the wave, we can experience the ride of a lifetime.

Or, if we choose, we can learn His ways and train, and practice and dive deep beneath the surface -- seeing new life forms that we would never see otherwise. We can, if we choose to dive deep, see utterly alien-looking forms of life that, in an indirect way, contribute to the whole of our life's experience. Just like deep things of the Spirit, the sea creatures are always there, we simply don't see them unless we choose to go deeper. And we cannot go deeper without equipping ourselves and training to do so.

Let's go deeper and experience the currents of the Spirit and see new life where we've never gone before. Let's train and equip ourselves to enter the "alien" world of the deep ways of God. Let's swim in the currents that create the waves of mercy and grace!

Dive into the depths of God's ways. Then rise to the surface so we can catch the waves of mercy and wave of grace and waves of His unchanging love for us!

Dive, dive, dive! Ride, ride, ride!