Well, the wisdom teeth are gone. A long day at Bethesda North and a lot of pain later, my husband came home yesterday with five fewer teeth. That means he is clear to go ahead with his heart surgery. The call was put in today to the cardiac surgeon. We are just waiting to hear back from him so we can schedule it. Let the fun begin~
UPDATE: looks like the surgery will be sometime during the last week of April (less that two weeks away). We have wanted this to be over and done with, but suddenly this seems too soon.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The Journey
The Bible story of the woman with the issue of blood has come up over and over again in the last few months. A woman I can relate to, because I, too, have been dealing with an issue with blood. I was diagnosed with Adenomyosis almost two years ago. I have learned that when a story or scripture verse comes up again and again, God is setting the stage to teach me something or set me free from something. I had heard this story multiple times in the past few months, but it wasn't until I recently went to the prison ministry outreach that God started to show me what he wanted me to learn from this story. As one of the ladies was teaching the prison ministry Bible study, she taught about that same story of the woman with the issue of blood. She taught that it wasn't just about the healing or the faith to be healed, but it was about the journey, the pursuit of Jesus. As Jesus was surrounded by throngs of people (a huge crowd), she had to aggressively pursue him to reach him. She passionately sought him out. She was hungry for him and what he had to offer.
While attending the Heaven at Hand conference at church this weekend, I sat alone towards the back of church. J was serving so I didn't sit in his normal favorite spot in the front row. During worship, I started pondering this same story. I even wrote the words "pursue", "seek Him", and "hungry for Him" on my program. As the speaker began preaching, I knew that God was going to do something for me that night. The speaker spoke on actively and passionately pursuing God. When my children called from home in the middle of the sermon crying for me to come home because they were arguing, I knew that God was really going to do something because the enemy was trying to get me to leave.
After the sermon, the speaker started calling people up for prayer for specific afflictions. The first affliction he mentioned was a bad heart. As I watched my husband and three others receive prayer, God really touched my heart and I wept. When the speaker called people up next to recieve prayer for back, joint, and hip issues, I joined nearly half the church in coming up front to receive prayer. While I did not experience any healing during this prayer time, a friend who was standing next to me received relief from an elbow problem. She then joined another friend who stood behind me in laying hands on me in prayer.
The next affliction mentioned was for women with an issue of blood. As I watched everyone sit except me and one other woman, I was amazed at how God works things out. I had just sent a private email prayer request out that morning to a few close friends for this issue of blood because it had gotten worse. Two of those friends happen to be the two who were laying hands on me. God set the stage to touch me that night, first with the Bible story that I can relate to. Then he softened my heart with prayers for my husband, drew me to Him by bringing me up with a large group for prayers for my back, then providing friends to encourage me as he called me up for his real purpose in bringing me there that night. He knew what I needed and how to gently bring me to that place before him.
As I received prayer, I wept. The Holy Spirit touched me and drew me to the floor. As I lay on the floor, I knew that this was about more than just healing for the issue. As I started pursuing God in other areas of my life, he answered my prayers immediately. I was praying (to myself-not out loud) about some very specific areas in my life that I wanted to seek God and pursue him in and God spoke immediate answers out loud through those around me. This happened several times. One of the things I prayed was that I really wanted to seek God in my finances and be a good steward. Right as I finished praying this in my head, my friend next to me said aloud, "God wants you to know that you are a good steward of his money." God continued to speak to me several times in this way. His love is so abundant and surpasses all understanding and all circumstances. I am still dealing with the issue of blood, but as I focus on God and pursue him instead of focusing on my issue, I can accept his love. As the lyrics of the song go "When all of the sudden I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory"; as I focus on God and pursue him, my affliction suddenly becomes unimportant compared to how great God is. As the song continues, "And I realize just how beautiful you are and how great your affections are for me". As I pursue God and seek after him rather than focusing on my problems, I can really live in His great love! The problems might still be there, but they are nothing compared to how great God is and how deeply he loves me!
While attending the Heaven at Hand conference at church this weekend, I sat alone towards the back of church. J was serving so I didn't sit in his normal favorite spot in the front row. During worship, I started pondering this same story. I even wrote the words "pursue", "seek Him", and "hungry for Him" on my program. As the speaker began preaching, I knew that God was going to do something for me that night. The speaker spoke on actively and passionately pursuing God. When my children called from home in the middle of the sermon crying for me to come home because they were arguing, I knew that God was really going to do something because the enemy was trying to get me to leave.
After the sermon, the speaker started calling people up for prayer for specific afflictions. The first affliction he mentioned was a bad heart. As I watched my husband and three others receive prayer, God really touched my heart and I wept. When the speaker called people up next to recieve prayer for back, joint, and hip issues, I joined nearly half the church in coming up front to receive prayer. While I did not experience any healing during this prayer time, a friend who was standing next to me received relief from an elbow problem. She then joined another friend who stood behind me in laying hands on me in prayer.
The next affliction mentioned was for women with an issue of blood. As I watched everyone sit except me and one other woman, I was amazed at how God works things out. I had just sent a private email prayer request out that morning to a few close friends for this issue of blood because it had gotten worse. Two of those friends happen to be the two who were laying hands on me. God set the stage to touch me that night, first with the Bible story that I can relate to. Then he softened my heart with prayers for my husband, drew me to Him by bringing me up with a large group for prayers for my back, then providing friends to encourage me as he called me up for his real purpose in bringing me there that night. He knew what I needed and how to gently bring me to that place before him.
As I received prayer, I wept. The Holy Spirit touched me and drew me to the floor. As I lay on the floor, I knew that this was about more than just healing for the issue. As I started pursuing God in other areas of my life, he answered my prayers immediately. I was praying (to myself-not out loud) about some very specific areas in my life that I wanted to seek God and pursue him in and God spoke immediate answers out loud through those around me. This happened several times. One of the things I prayed was that I really wanted to seek God in my finances and be a good steward. Right as I finished praying this in my head, my friend next to me said aloud, "God wants you to know that you are a good steward of his money." God continued to speak to me several times in this way. His love is so abundant and surpasses all understanding and all circumstances. I am still dealing with the issue of blood, but as I focus on God and pursue him instead of focusing on my issue, I can accept his love. As the lyrics of the song go "When all of the sudden I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory"; as I focus on God and pursue him, my affliction suddenly becomes unimportant compared to how great God is. As the song continues, "And I realize just how beautiful you are and how great your affections are for me". As I pursue God and seek after him rather than focusing on my problems, I can really live in His great love! The problems might still be there, but they are nothing compared to how great God is and how deeply he loves me!
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