It's A Small, Small World

On April 10th, my world got very small as I watched my husband suffer from injuries caused by a car driving over his entire left side. He saw the wheel coming toward his head and turned it just in time, sparing his life by only an inch.

He ended up with 5 broken ribs and severe deep tissue bruising up his leg to the shoulder and a slightly punctured lung. It could have been so much worse and we are grateful that the Lord spared Ivan's life. This could have been an entirely different blog, that's for sure!

I remember sitting on the couch in Ivan's room and it seemed all I could focus on was his face; every movement, every grimace, every inch of the face I have loved for over 36 years.

We spent every night in the hospital together, waking up every few hours because another nurse was checking his vitals or taking blood. We didn't care; we still had each other.

We sat by the hour in silence and looked out of the window as we realized that things could have been so different. He didn't damage his hips, pelvis, arm, shoulder or any other bones except those 5 ribs.

We took short walks around the halls as Ivan tried to work his legs and expand his lungs. There wasn't much to laugh about, but we both tried to smile at the nurses and each other.

About 50 people came to visit us over the week we spent in the hospital and it was comforting to know that many more were praying us through this crisis. We saw how important human connection is and how valuable prayer is.

As I sat by the window each day, I began to think about the single parents and their kids who I minister to and how their world also shrinks when they are in crisis. Their world is altered, the loss is immense and the pain is long-lasting.

I have a stronger resolve to walk alongside our families, draw them to Jesus each day and help them in the depths of their pain. God is the Ultimate Healer; He is healing my husband and my emotions and He can heal them as well.

I praise God Ivan is recovering, I thank Him for carrying us through this crisis and I am ready to keep leading people to the Ultimate Healer. Praise His name!!

Who Are You Really?

Who are you REALLY?

Why is it that we let human beings, imperfect human beings, determine our self-image? Why do we allow them to verbally and/or physically beat us down when all the Lord wants is to build us up and bring us to Himself?

I meet with and have phone conversations with women and kids throughout each week who are beaten down, depleted, confused and hurt to distraction. As they share their stories, my heart hurts for them as I realize how the enemy has buried them with guilt and shame, self-hatred and disillusion.

Psalm 139 begins with,"O Lord, You have searched me and You know me."The God of the universe made you, values you, loves you, forgives you, accepts you and wants to have a close relationship with you as His child. Now, doesn't that sound better than the lies we may believe from others?

Later in this passage, David says, "If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You.'"

Replace those doubts and hurts that may have buried you with this. "For You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

The first step in standing stronger as a woman of God is to recognize Who is in you and define yourself by that! You are an incredible miracle of God, the apple of His eye, His princess/prince, full of gifts and talents you may not have even realized yet. Let Jesus Christ define who you are, throw off the negative influences and pounding you may have had in your past, in His name.

Who are you? You are fabulous, Dahling! May God bless you this day with a renewed sense of self in Him!