I hope all of you have a wonderful and joyous Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
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Tag Archives: Hope
All Hallows Eve (or Halloween)
October 31st is usually a cause for people to dress up, go to parties and have a lot of fun. Children dress up and go house to house for candy and then the parents have to deal with the sugar highs that they will have as they polish off the spoils. Many people don’t know that Halloween is a shortened form of All Hallows Eve. All Hallow’s Day or All Saint’s Day is November 1st.
This is a day when Christians think about, and pay homage to, the Christians that came before us. This can include the family members that died in the past year but more common is the commemoration of Saints that were killed for being Christians. We haven’t had many persecutions in the US, but in places like Africa, Syria and China, Christians are being killed just because they are Christians. We need to earnestly pray for these Christians and give to organizations that are trying to help. We can also let Congress know that this needs to stop.
This quote is from John Stonestreet who is with Breakpoint, a part of the Colson Center, in an email and radio broadcast about International Religious Freedom Day:
On June 13, at least 200 Christians were killed in a single day in the Nigerian village of Yelwata. In March and April, more than 250 Christians were slaughtered in coordinated attacks on churches and villages during Palm Sunday services in northern and Middle Belt regions of Nigeria. Survivors described gunmen storming worship services, hacking victims with machetes, and burning families alive in their homes.
The persecution of Christians is happening in other African nations as well. In February, more than 70 worshippers were beheaded in the Democratic Republic of Congo when ISIS-affiliated rebels stormed a Protestant church in Kasanga, North Kivu, during a service. The dead included women and children.
In Syria this past June, an ISIS suicide bomber detonated explosives during Sunday liturgy at Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church, killing more than 20 worshippers and injuring dozens more. Eyewitnesses, including a surviving woman who refused to flee despite threats, described the blast ripping through the congregation mid-prayer, with shrapnel embedding in icons and pews.
Recently on YouTube, one of my content creators that I listen to had a person on his channel that was “feet on the ground” in Nigeria. His mission in Nigeria is to house and feed Christian refugees, giving them a safe harbor in all the persecution. Equipping The Persecuted is also trying to get the word out past the officials in Nigeria that tell the world that nothing is going on. Here is the channel if you would like to listen to the podcast. It’s very alarming.
We must remember to pray for those that are persecuted. And as you attend church tomorrow, remind others that there are Christian Martyrs today that can use our prayers and support.
O Death…
But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 The Apostle Paul is partially quoting Hosea 13:14 here, where is says in part: “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death.“
Many people ask me if I was frightened when I went through my brain hemorrhage and aneurism fix. They say, “Weren’t you scared?” My answer is always no. When they told me to get to the hospital because I had an aneurism, I was apprehensive and a bit worried, but no, I wasn’t scared. When I had the brain hemorrhage (see “All the Angels Out There“) I put myself In God’s Hands and I woke up after a day or two. When I had the aneurism (see “My Thoughts...”) I was almost constantly praying, and my family got all sorts of prayer rings going, I mean, wow, I was walking around with a time bomb in my head. Even so, I wasn’t scared in the full sense of the word.
It’s been three months since then and yes; my life has changed. I don’t go out as much, because these two incidents practically back-to-back really hit my physical body hard. I don’t have the stamina I used to. I get tired really quickly and my brain doesn’t work like it used to. But. I’m. Still. Here. I praise God for that.
I’m going to end this post with a song that recently came out. I love it because it so describes me right now. I’m ready to go whenever my Savior calls me. Until then… I keep spreading the message. The chorus in this song is now my theme song. Mercy Me “ODeath”:
Angels in my Life
Having all of these recent things happen in my life, I have been very reflective on where God has led me. That made me think of all the people he has put in front of me to lead me in the correct way. Also, there are things that have happened to me that has made me think that there are actual angels out there, like a Guardian Angel.
People joke about having a Guardian Angel, but I have found that I have one. In my late teens/early twenties, I had a really bad car accident. Three friends were also in the car when I lost control on a country back road. I still can bring up the image of the telephone pole directly in front of the car. I turned the wheel, and the back part of the car hit the pole. (For you car people, I “drifted” into the pole) My car happened to be a 1970 Chevrolet Impala, and it was a tank. I know that if I had hit that telephone pole straight on, we would all be dead. The reasoning behind that statement is when the car hit the telephone pole (at 45-50 mph) it bent the frame of the car 11 inches. That is a lot of bend for a car “built like a tank”. Bottom line is that all four of us walked out of that car. We had bumps and bruises, but we were alive. After the accident some of the local residents came out and looked over the accident scene. One gentleman was walking, looking at the skid marks when I approached him. He asked whether I was the driver and when I said I was he said (I’ll quote him as much as I’m able after all these years), “Girl, you had an angel sitting on your shoulder to drive like that.”
Sometimes angels come in human form. I when I was in high school, I was invited to sing with a local Christian group that met at a church in our town. This group was all teenagers from ages 13 to 20. This group was led by a man called Darwin. His nickname was Doc. We would meet during the week for practice and over the weekend we might have a church to sing at. The group went on several tours, through Pennsylvania Virginia and one tour went up to Maine and back. This group that I joined was a life-giving activity for me. I grew up in an alcoholic home and even though my father had stopped drinking there were still problems. I was beginning to go down the wrong road when I was invited to join. I loved singing so it was a no brainer for me, and while I sang about the love of Jesus, I also experienced it. I know that if I had never been in this group, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I think I would have killed myself at a young age. I look back now, and I wonder how in the world Doc managed up to 20+ teenagers at a time. Doc and the group were such a blessing for me and a wonderful memory. I’m still in touch with some of the people who were in that group.
I know I’ve been talking about angels a lot, but I’ve seen too much in this world not to think that God has his hand in everything we do. The writer of Hebrews says, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” (13:2) I think if angels can show up at your door, they could be anywhere.
All of us have had these kinds of events in our lives. Take the time to think about them and then thank the God who brought you through. Even the events that have a lot of pain and sorrow have the hand of the Lord in it. Sometimes you can’t see it until you look back and reflect.
He Has Risen, He has Risen Indeed!
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Happy Thanksgiving
Holidays are hard. If you are in active care giving you are already exhausted. Thoughts of having friends and family over for a huge dinner can overwhelm you. My mom used to have a large gathering on Thanksgiving. Family, friends, it didn’t matter. As Macy’s parade was playing in the background my mom would be preparing the turkey, pealing potatoes and setting the table with the good china and silver. Later we would sit down to the full Thanksgiving meal including the yams, succotash, homemade cranberry relish and several different homemade pies. We would always have 10+ persons over. You don’t have to do the whole shebang. I have some suggestions.
Don’t have the dinner. If you have family close, let them do the dinner. Offer to bring a side if you must do something. Communicate to your family that hosting the dinner just is too much. After experiencing the Thanksgivings in my family I decided that wasn’t my mom and had much simpler dinners. One year it was just our family and we had spaghetti! We also went to other relatives homes on some years. Once Joseph started his journey we kept up this tradition.
If you don’t have family close (we don’t) then perhaps your church or community may have a large Thanksgiving meal you can attend. You should have some family or friends surround you on this holiday, because that is what this holiday is about.
Have the Thanksgiving meal sometime in the weekend after. That is what we are doing this year since my daughter-in-law and my younger son work over Thanksgiving. We will have a small meal (turkey is on the menu) Saturday or Sunday; we haven’t decided yet.
What is important during this holiday is that you are thankful for your blessings that come from our Lord. We should be thankful that we wake up for each and everyday and that we have shelter and food to eat. Be sure to include your thanks to the Lord this holiday.
Take Care…
On this blog I’ve been saying that it is important for caregivers to take care of themselves. I want to let you know that I didn’t come out of my time of care giving in good shape. Too late, I’ve realized that I really didn’t follow the advice that I’ve been giving you. For years I put taking care of me in the background so that I could take care of others. I’m now starting to reap what I’ve sown. This is why I stress it so much.
I thought that once I retired I would be able to bounce back to where I was sometime in the past, meaning my energy levels and my mental and emotional state. Actually, I thought the same thing would happen after Joe died, and it did for a bit. But I was still working full time and going through the grind of the office everyday and all of the stress that causes. Now that I have retired I thought I would have more energy and be more mentally alert. This didn’t happen. Instead, for the past six months, I’ve been tired, sleepy and bored but with no energy to do anything about it. At first I told myself to be easy on myself and just recover. Take it easy. I started getting caught up on my own doctor check ups and found that there are some things I’m going to have to do.
I’ve run myself down into a rut. I’m very “out of shape” so to speak. Nothing major is going on, I’ve just been extremely hard on my physical self. I’ve done this for years, not taking breaks, just trying to get through the stress of living and taking care of Joe. I did do small things like going to a counselor and taking a couple of hours a week to take a walk. But nothing regular, nothing planned. I didn’t do social things, so now I have no friends to contact and the friends that I did have I haven’t talked to in ages. I’ve backed myself into a corner but I’ve decided to fight my way out.
I go to an exercise class twice a week at the local YMCA. Check them out, they have some wonderful programs especially if you’re a senior. I also started to attend church regularly and I go to a large Women’s Bible Study once a week. I’m doing these things to be more “social”. I’m an introvert and it’s very hard for me to start friendships, so I’m forcing myself out of my house to meet people.
I know that if you are actively care giving at this time it is really hard to leave the house, but if you can, please do activities that will lift your spirits or give you some fresh air and exercise. If you can’t leave your home I’ve found tons of Bible Study’s and teachings online, mostly on YouTube and most churches have an online option. If you are a senior, look into the “Silver Sneakers” website and they have a YouTube channel as well.
I messed myself up. I would hate to see anyone follow my footsteps. Take care of yourself because there is only one of you.
He Has Risen!
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Giving Care
I’m now noticing that when I was in the middle of caregiving that I didn’t have much time or energy to help others. I was very selfish and drawn in on myself. I was worried about getting through each day and I didn’t worry much about my neighbor.
Now I’m trying to take this attitude and turn it around, so that I can look at others and see if I can help to meet their needs. This is so hard when all I’ve ever thought about was my needs. Yes, I extended that to my husband and my children, but never outside of that circle.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.‘ There is no commandment greater than these.
Mark 12:30-31
As Christians we are commanded to love our God with everything that is within us and to extend that love to others. As Christians we are not only to take care of ourselves and family, but to also extend care to others. What does this look like? I’m not sure, but I know that my giving care will look different from yours. We are all called to do this. We should pray and ask what caregiving we can to today for others.
Happy Easter!
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The Giving of Care 