Forgiven By God

When Cord was three years old, he got an infection that caused the lymph nodes in his neck to swell. We took him to the doctor and they gave him a round of antibiotics and the lymph nodes should have went down, but they didn't. Instead, they got bigger, so a stronger dose of antibiotic was ordered and blood work was done. His blood work showed mixed results. Some things were too high and some things were too low. Hardly any of the things they tested were normal for a boy his age. The doctor felt like it was an infection and it should go away with the stronger antibiotic, but it didn't. Instead the knots in his lymph nodes got bigger. At this point, our pediatrician told us we needed to get Cord in to see a specialist immediately. He said the words no parent wants to hear. In his 30 years of pediatric work only one other child had presented with the same symptoms that Cord had and that child was diagnosed with cancer. It just so happens that my mother-in-law knew the ch

When I was 18 I was driving home from work late one night and all of the sudden I felt my car start to shake. I knew there were storms moving into the area and I had been driving trying to get home and avoid them. The wind was hitting my car so hard that it felt like it was about to blow my car off the road. What did I do? I gripped the steering wheel tighter and kept on driving. Eventually, the wind died down and I made it home. I was almost certain I had just went through a tornado, but it was so dark that I really couldn't see anything. I know that I have never felt wind blowing like that before or since. My suspicions were confirmed when the next day or two, the paper reported that a tornado had blown through that area at the exact time I was traveling. There were no houses in the area and had I wrecked more than likely no one would have found me until the next day. God watched out for me and protected me. The storms of life blow into our lives, too. Sometimes we have a

So apparently I almost hurt myself the other day. I have been pinning like crazy on Pinterest and I have really wanted to start making homemade cleaner. I went to Wal-Mart and bought all the stuff. I'm probably on a list now for people that buy too much cleaner, LOL. When I decided to make the cleaner I pulled up a couple of recipes to look at and then decided to make my own version of homemade cleaner. In the back of my mind I vaguely remember something about not mixing certain chemicals but I didn't bother to go look it up. I just added them slowly so if they did blow up, it wouldn't be all that bad. When nothing blew up, I figured everything was OK. Everything was ok, the first time I used it, but when I went back to use it the second time, I nearly passed out from the fumes, which come to find out were toxic. My carelessness put me and my family in danger. If I had only followed the directions, none of this would have happened. Now I've had to throw my bott

I attended a conference a couple of weeks ago and the question was asked, "Who taught you how to pray?" Some of you can easily answer that question and some of you may not be as certain. Some of you may not even be sure that you know how to pray now. This started me thinking about prayer. In Matthew 6:9-13 we are given a model prayer by Jesus himself: 9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. What strikes me about this prayer is the simplicity of it. It was not a lengthy prayer, but in these few words Jesus spoke everything that is important in life. Vs 9-10 shows us how to give God honor first when we pray. Too many tim

It's a new year. A time when time itself seems to start over. The first of the year is so full of hope for what may happen. Many people make resolutions at the first of the year. Some people are able to keep them and some resolutions have already been forgotten as I write this. I think for some of us we try to change ourselves too much, too quickly. Then when we can't keep up with the demands we place on ourselves, we throw our hands up and just give up. I encourage you this year as you make resolutions to not put yourself down if you mess up, instead just start back over and accomplish your goals. As a Christian, I am determined to grow closer to God everyday. When I first got back into church, I had that same determination, only then I thought I had to be perfect. I would mess up, (like we all do) and I would give up. I would get so frustrated and say what's the point I can't change. I'm not good enough to be a Christian. At that point there was a lot of goi

I was walking through the mall the other day and I decided to get my eyebrows plucked by those ladies that use the strings. I had never done it that way before, I usually have them waxed. I had observed several people having this procedure done and I really didn't think it would be painful. Well that's what I get for thinking. It was very painful. In fact, I think I felt each individual eyebrow hair come out one at a time. When it was finally over though, my eyebrows looked fabulous and I could join the ranks of women everywhere that like to look good by removing facial hair. This got me thinking. I'm sure this procedure doesn't hurt everyone and there is no way someone is going to get up with only one brow done. Every woman I know would stick through it until the end, no matter how painful it may be. The same is true when God tries to mold us into his image. Sometimes it is painful, especially when we are not ready for the changes He wants to make in us. If we a