Refuse to Quit!

You have all heard me say this before, never quit, never give up. But persevere!

The last several days I've heard many say "I give up", or " I don't think I can keep going on like this".
Those words really bother me when I hear them.  After all, if we do quit or give up, how do we know if we could have been victorious in our fight or not?
As I have said many times, perseverance is very important to me. I have to make that conscious decision every day to fight for every step I take, for every breath I breathe, for every day of sunshine I experience.
If we don't fight for ourselves how can we ask others to fight for us?  My husband fights every fight with me. He sheds every tear with me. He would gladly take my pain from me and bear it himself.
I have to think my perseverance encourages that in him.
We all need to take that initiative, stand our ground with heels dug in, and fight!
When you ask for prayer for something within your church family, or your circle of friends, or even on social media, do you then sit back and wait passively for those prayers to come forth, and for the answers to come? I hope not. I say that in love, because I want you all to be victorious in your fight. My heart will weep when I hear of others struggles, especially physically.  I don't want anyone else to ever experience the pain I've had or the physical hardships I've experienced.  Therefore I do pray and intercede for others.  That is so very important.
However, again, I stress the importance of our perseverance and fight for our own victories.
I encourage you, don't give up.  Press on, press in to Jesus.  He has His best for us.
“So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭6:9‬ ‭HCSB‬‬
Jesus tells us in His Word, don't give up.  He will reward us at the proper time.
Am I healed yet? No, I am not.  Some things are much better than they used to be.  But I stand on God's Word, and His promises for me.  I know without a doubt, God is faithful, He will not desert us.
I am so thankful and forever grateful that God has given me a spirit of perseverance and a desire to fight and be victorious.  I truly believe that same spirit is within all of us.  I encourage you to reach deep within and pull it out.
I pray you all find that strength as you pray and trust in Jesus. 

Waiting for an Answer

Have you ever had a prayer that goes deep in your heart, so much so that you really cannot explain it?  And you wait years for the answer or a conformation. Let me try to explain.
I spent most of my childhood in NJ.  I had a best friend that lived right next door.  We would do everything together.  Even though my mother took us to church and Sunday School at our own church, sometimes I would go to church with my little friend and her family. As a child it was always special to me but I never really could pinpoint why. Then my family moved to Upstate NY and we lost contact.  Back then we didn't have social media.
Over the years since I have become closer to the Lord, I have prayed that somehow I could let my childhood friend and her family know how much that Godly influence into my life meant.  I prayed so many times for the Lord to make this happen somehow.  We are talking over 30 years of praying for this. But I always trusted that God would make a way.
It was several weeks ago, I was looking at Facebook for something and I noticed the name of my friend's father.  It is a very distinct name so I knew it was him. I almost jumped out of my skin. I immediately sat down and sent him a message. I told him how thankful and grateful I am that he and his family imparted into my life the way they did. I asked about my friend as well.  I didn't think much more of it. We had gone on vacation, returned to everyday life.  But my heart felt "relieved" that I could finally share with him and his daughter, hopefully, what that fruit produced in my life.
Last night I received a message back from him.  Oh my goodness, this is a divine intervention by God.  He was thrilled to hear from me.  His words were that of a blessing back to me.  He was going to share with his daughter. I sat almost stunned that all of this has taken place. I've been praying for this moment for a long time.
We  know that God is faithful. We do not know His timing or even understand it, but we do know it is perfect. He does answer our prayers. And usually in a way we do not expect.  This was such a surprise and blessed my heart so.
My hope for all of you out there is that no matter how long it takes, you will have the faith to know that God has a perfect plan. His timing is perfect, His plan is perfect. I encourage you all, never think your prayer is not important to God. Never think it isn't that big of a deal so why continue to pray.  Every prayer, every concern of yours is important to God.  It may take a little time, or a long time for God's perfect plan to come together. Don't give up. Don't stop praying. Your answer will come.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 HCSB
There is an occasion for everything,
And a time for every activity under heaven. 

Amplified Bible-
“TO EVERYTHING there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven:”
‭‭

Vacation!

For the last 2 weeks Paul and I have been on vacation which would explain the lack of a recent blog post.  This is the first vacation we have had in several years, with the exception of our son's wedding in Colorado. We had been trying to plan a time away for quite sometime, but illness usually prevented us from traveling. We were trying to get to Nashville to visit our son and daughter in law. Every time Paul could get time off that worked with our son's schedule I was too ill to travel. I was determined this time to go. We were planning this for several months.
As you may recall recently I was battling the side effects of some treatment for the leukemia. As recent as a month ago. Have you ever wanted something so badly that it was all you could think about. Oh my goodness, I prayed and prayed, I wanted to be able to visit our son and daughter and law. I did not want illness to once again ruin our plans.
This time seemed different though. When I was praying I found myself asking God to keep the doors open for our vacation, but then I would move on to the Word of God, and asking the Holy Spirit what I should focus on. It was no longer just about our vacation. It was no longer about what I wanted, or about my illness. I had a total peace about what was to be, and God's will. I truly felt in my heart that God had this under control and He would direct our paths and pave our way.
As I have written before, I try to live my life as a "woman of faith", trusting and believing God for my every move and His protection over me. So actually this may seem odd that I am writing about struggling or fretting about vacation. Or perhaps about my focus being on something that I want to take place. I will be honest with you, I did struggle with the feeling of being a hypocrite. I did not want to interfere in any way with God's plan for us.
It was then when God placed that peace in my heart. I had that feeling in my spirit that God had this under control. It was then that I could let go and let God.
The days before we were to leave I had horrible pain in my leg and hip area. I could hardly walk, sit, stand, or lay. It was very severe pain from the nerve damage. But I was determined. My husband laid hands on me and prayed over me several times. We had 2 days of travel ahead of us in the car.
It came time to leave. We started out in the morning. I was in a great deal of pain. But we looked ahead and had such excitement for what God had for us on this vacation. The first day we had a goal of how far to get. About 500 miles. The roads were hectic from the moment we left. We continued to pray God's protection over us.
Our travel that day ended up being over 600 miles. It turns out there was an Indy car race in the area and also a bicycle race in the area. Hotels were booked for miles. Once again we prayed for the Lord to open up a place for us for the night. The place we found was reasonable and very clean and comfortable. That was a big thank you. By this time I was walking a little better. Wow, after so many hours in the car, I was doing a little better.
The next morning we headed out, first praying. At one point we sat at a complete stop on the major highway in Ohio. Cars lined up as far as we could see. A tractor-trailer overturned a few miles down the road. They were waiting for a crane to come to remove it. We turned the car off to conserve gas. It was close to 100 degrees out. Then my husband said "what would Jesus do during this time". He then took several bottles of water we had in the car and he walked up and down the road to pass them out. People were so grateful for that water.  We then saw one of the plans God had for us, to offer some help or relief to others.
We continued on down the road to our first destination, Kentucky to visit friends. That is a beautiful state. When we arrived our spirits felt an immediate feeling of being in a sanctuary. We were totally convinced God had a plan for us on this vacation. Our friends opened their home to us and were so gracious and loving. And I had two more praying for me. I would sit on the porch, surrounded by hummingbirds, flowers, and more birds. Oh my, my heart was content. We spent a few days with our friends. It was wonderful. By the time we left my leg was feeling almost normal. I was able to walk around on the property with minimal difficulty.
Then we had about 2 hours in the car to get to our son and daughter in law's in Nashville. We arrived at our rental, once again God did not disappoint. A very clean, comfortable townhouse for us to stay in. And the best of all, a hug from our son and daughter in law. We had the best time with them. Matthew drove us to see all of the "tourists" sights downtown. Melissa took me for a pedicure.  And are you ready for this, this was my first! Yes you read that right, my first. Oh my, that was amazing.
We had a wonderful time with them. And of course we hated to leave.
When we were getting ready to leave I realized, my leg did not hurt at all.  It was completely gone.
You may be wondering at this point what I am trying to say in this blog.
The point I want to make is we all need a VACATION. A real vacation that takes us away from the daily grind. One that lets us act like tourists. We can eat and not feel like we over did it. You can sit and do absolutely nothing if you feel like it.
God has vacation in His master plan for us. I truly believe that. We all need a rest. We all need a "sanctuary" to go to. And not feel guilty about it. Yes, we must plan and prepare as much as possible for a vacation, but that  is a whole different conversation.
One point I'd like to make however, just because we were on vacation, we in no way felt as though God was not going to use us. As you recall, there were those in need of some water to drink. We had plenty and shared it. That is God using us in a time when others had a need. We did not take a vacation "from God".
So I will finish by saying a vacation is a good thing and can be truly part of God's plan. He met my needs during that time. He met my husband's needs during that time. And He met others needs. He gave us a truly restful time away. He gave us time with our son and daughter in law.
I encourage you, even if you cannot travel, take the time off that you are able to, sit back, relax, and forget the "to-do" list. It will be there when you get back.