Rewind #8: Some of the Good Things

Original air date: 1Feb2010

It might be easy to draw an incorrect conclusion. By reading through these last few posts, you might get to thinking that all I think about are things related to my health [or the lack of,] or the struggles I am having. While it’s true that I *am* at a pretty crucial point with a lot of those things -- I am on the verge of making some decisions that are going to affect the rest of my life -- I am surrounded EVERY DAY by some WONDERFUL things in this world! Unable to be topped by anything is the fact that God answered me when I decided to seek Him with my whole heart, according to His truth. He has been knocking at my door for many, many years, and I finally answered the door and He came in! I can’t explain the same thing that couldn’t be explained to me when I was an atheist - and that is the peace that passes all understanding. I know that the cross is a stumbling block to some and foolishness to others, but to me it is God’s power to salvation. No disease, no hormone, no injection or surgery or therapy can ever take that away. I know that God has given me the freedom to walk away from Him at any time, but He has given me too many reasons to stay.

Beyond that I have an AMAZING husband who has loved me from the beginning and has stood by my through EVERYTHING. And that’s a LOT. This is the man who has wrapped my hands with gauze, done countless trips to the pharmacy or to the dr’s office for me and with me, he has slept many nights in the back of our Blazer parked in the hospital’s parking garage because the night nurse was enforcing visiting hours. Danny has had the guts and the love to stand up to me when I stood too tall; loving hands that have always caught me when I was falling; and feet that have always stood beside me. He has weathered the storms of Prednisone and Lupron ... which were NO small feat. He allows me to be me, while helping me grow into a better me.

Even though I went years without truly appreciating what an amazing family I have, I am now wholeheartedly convinced that my family is knit together tighter than most, and I have blessing after blessing flowing from that spring. I continue to grow closer & closer to my sisters and my parents, and I love how these relationships are deeper than ever -- not to mention the family I inherited when I married Danny, which includes everyone from Chris & Kayla to Danny’s mom, Mama Stroud, his amazing sisters & hilarious brothers (I’ve been told many times to always have a lock on the suitcase if you’re staying at their house,) plus nieces like Misty and Tonya and all of the other wonderful McNeals! It is only by their warm welcoming into the family that I know I would be at home wherever they are, whether TN or FL or TX or beyond.

There has also been an entirely new family I have been adopted into, and that is the family of God - the church. Ever since the Lord added me to His church on March 16, 2003, I have been blessed by the love and support of my family in Christ. I really can’t overemphasize the encouragement they have been! I have developed some of the closest friendships I have ever had in the church ... but I SO hesitate to name names because I have grown SO close to SO many people, but if my brain misfires and I forgot to write a name of a person that was really important to me, I would just die. But I know my closest friends know who they are. :)

I am blessed to have the medical coverage and healthcare that I have. Of all the places in the world, (that kinda sounds like, “of all the gin joints ...”) what were the odds of me being born in a country where I would have access to such things?? Why wasn’t I born in Zambia, where just getting a drink of clean water is a big deal??

I am reading several books that are blessing my life too:

• Danny and I are reading Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. The book is based on Ephesians 5:33: “Each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.” God has designed us so that the man’s deepest need is respect, and the woman’s is love, and this book is helping us embrace that & communicate it to our spouse. We are learning a lot about our marriage & communication!
• Michael J. Fox’s Adventures of an Incurable Optimist. The title’s use of the word “incurable” is a pun on the fact that he suffers from Parkinson’s Disease, an incurable condition -- but he refuses to let a devastating disease rob him of his joy of living. I highly recommend this to everyone, but especially those with health struggles.
• What’s Submission Got To Do With It? by Cindy Easley. It’s an “every woman” kind of book on embracing God’s design for a submissive wife. She talks about how our nature is to rise up and want to control things (see Genesis 3,) but that God has an order to everything He designs. Unfortunately the word “submissive” has been misused so many time to mean more like “subservient,” and it robs us of the nobility that being a true helpmate carries. I can’t watch a movie like The Cinderella Man, The Glenn Miller Story, Rocky, -- or any of the others where the man can NOT succeed until his wife wholeheartedly supports him, and think that being a helpmate is a second-class role! I like that the author writes it in such a way that you don’t feel dumb nor wicked if you struggle with putting away the thoughts of the world to embrace God’s way.
• Sick and Tired of Feeling Sick and Tired -- Living with Invisible Chronic Illness, by Paul Donoghue. It talks about the unique struggles of living with diseases that are invisible to the people around you -- sometimes even those closest to you -- and how it affects us differently that those battling conditions like cancer or being in a wheelchair ... anything that can be easily seen.

Sometimes it’s just a great habit to pause & look at all the countless things in my life that bless me FAR beyond what I deserve. God has TRULY been amazing to me!! In my next entry I will include a small list of scripture that serves to always be an encouragement to me. Depending on the day, this list could vary *widely* - but there are some that always lift me up. Stay tuned for those!