Don't say it if you don't want it....

Today I got an extra time to see Grace.  She is three months old and just keeps getting more and more personality every time that I see her.  Today I watched this interaction between Grace and her mommy....

Can't you just see and feel the love between these two?  What an amazing connection we have with our little ones.  Even at this young age, she knows how to get her mom's attention and make her happy.   What a sweet, sweet intimate moment I was blessed to witness!

On Sunday night at the HUB meeting, Dana Morey continued with his amazing message helping us all to change our thinking, which transform our minds.  I love how the Passion Translation of Romans 12:2 reads....

Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think.  

There was simply so many good, powerful concrete ideas contained in Dana's message.  But on the way home, I was thinking about one "bullet point" thing that Dana said and I can not get it out of my head!  It brought me back to an amazing miracle that Jesus has done in my life. Here is that 

bullet point.......IF YOU DON'T WANT IT, DON'T SAY IT! 

Way, way back in 1999  (Doesn't that seem like a very long time ago?), I had been under a doctors care, pretty much constantly, for severe asthma.  As a matter of fact, in April of 1999, I noticed that the new Cardiopulmonary doctor that I was seeing, had slapped a large, red sticker over the front of my chart that said "COPD Patient".(Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)  I had been referred to this doctor because Ken and I had planned a vacation to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary, and it involved flying and a week away from home.  This doctor had tested me and prescribed several new inhalers and oral drugs that would allow me to make this trip.  But as time passed, these new drugs were not helping much.  There is a very odd thing that happens to people with breathing problems.  You get so "used to" having low oxygen levels that you don't realize how bad it really is. By the time I would realize that I needed to hit the emergency room, it was usually an emergency!

Now my church, my pastors and my friends had been praying for me often over the last year.  I would frequently go to the prayer teams, or to the altar for prayer.  I would leave the church and feel better for a few hours, but it never seemed to really STICK!  Sometime in the early fall of 1999, I heard a sermon around "owning" our illness' or infirmities.   I realized that I had been doing that!  I would say "My asthma is really bad."  Or I would say, "I have really serious asthma,"  So I became aware of how many times I used my words to own this horrible and damaging illness.  The last week of October of 1999, our church held a week of prayer meetings in the evenings.  During one of these meetings I realized that I had hit that point of needing to see the doctor as my breathing was very bad.  Before I could leave the church, my pastors and all the elders gathered around me and began to pray to break this illness off of me.  It was a powerful, powerful prayer time that cleared my breathing immediately.  I was able to stay for the rest of that service.  On the way home, I realized the connection between stopping my WORDS claiming this illness and the prayers that night.  However, I expected that, as usual, my symptoms would quickly return.  In the morning I woke up and realized that I was breathing well.  My peak flow meter showed 650.... an unbelievable number since my usual morning numbers were under 200.  I took all my medicine that morning.  As the day went on, it became more and more clear to me that I had experienced a true miracle!  I could feel the difference in my lungs, in my breathing and just in general.  A friend of mine who is a nurse, listened to my breathing that day.  With a stunned look on her face, she asked what had happened!  She said she had never heard air flow in all parts of my lungs before that day.  I made a faith decision to stop all of my medicines.   And I have never been treated for asthma since that time.  My doctors have confirmed over the years, that this is truly a miracle.  The disease that was documented in my charts doesn't just go away.  After about 5 years, they removed the sticker from my chart.    Anytime I hear someone "owning" their illness, I remember this miracle.   Our words have power.  Great power.  So my message tonight is really simple.  Whatever it is..... don't say it if you don't want it!

The miracle of my breathing with ease, is born out of my relationship with Jesus.  It is because of Him, because of the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, that healing was released.  Looking at the picture of Susie and sweet little Grace, seeing the intense love and joy between the two of them, helps me to visualize the connection that I have with God.  We are so blessed to be able to sit on the lap of our God, look into His eyes and see His smile.  What a beautiful reminder of the great love of Jesus.  

Yes, it is good to remember and recount testimonies of miracles.  But it is also a wonderful privilege to proclaim the great love that Jesus has for all people.  

Jesus, thank you for loving us and calling us to come sit on your lap.  Holy Spirit, help us all to be aware of our words and the power that we have in our tongue.  Remind us that we have a daddy in heaven that loves us.  Jesus, thank you for the breath of life.  Amen

April Showers (and blooming trees and flowers) bring a high pollen count!

I have been feeling a bit "fuzzy" over the last couple of weeks - thanks to unrelenting allergies!  Yes, I love the blooming trees.  And yes, I am so thankful that all of those flowers are blooming!  But NO!  I do not appreciate all of the pollen that is floating in the air.   This is always a difficult time of year for me, but this year has been extremely bad.  It seems that I have had a constant headache that leaves me very tired by the end of the day.  Ken has been out enjoying the warm weather and taking photos of all this "beautiful" spring blooming.  I much prefer to sit inside and just contemplate the arrival of better weather (with much less pollen)!

This was my remedy for today!  I mean really, doesn't that little cutie just lift your spirit?  She is wearing the little shirt that was in her Easter Basket and a "TuTu" (which is what Lia, Ellie and Anna all call their skirts) that is a hand me down from Gwen's girls.  Being with Grace certainly did help me to feel a bit less fuzzy.  It is hard to believe that this little girl will soon be twelve weeks old!  I don't know where the last 3 months have gone.

For the most part, this April has not been quite as filled with memories of all those who I have lost in this month. (I have mentioned this often - my mom, dad, mother-in-law, father-in-law and sister all died during April).  I think this might actually be a bit of a benefit of all the fuzziness in my head this year! But then this happened......

I was sitting in my car in a drive through line, getting a quick cup of coffee.  I had my window down as I approached the window to pay for my drink.  There were a number of cars ahead of me so I was stopped for a number of minutes.  And then the aroma of this bush wafted into my car.  I was suddenly transported to the backyard of Ken's parents home.  There was a large spice bush in the corner of their yard that would just fill the entire place with this sweet smell.    I had not been thinking about Merv and JoAnne until that moment.  For the next couple of hours I just couldn't get them out of my mind.  So many memories in that backyard.  Isn't it interesting how powerful a smell can be?  This is one of my favorite pictures from that backyard.  It is Doug and Gwen with their Great Grandma Baker (Ken's favorite Grandma).

(When I found this picture I noticed how much Grace looks like Doug and Anna makes the expression that Gwen has in this picture!)  Looking at this picture, I can almost smell that bush!

On Sunday evening I had another experience of my senses reminding me of events from the past.  I have blogged many times about a powerful ministry that meets fairly close to my home - Chicago HUB.  I have been attending these meetings over the last twenty years on a fairly regular basis - much more often in the recent years.  And I can not begin to count how many conference events sponsored by HUB that have blessed me during that time. Something very unexpected happened last November.  The leader of HUB, Nancy Magiera,  became seriously ill.  Additionally, the conference center that had been the meeting place for HUB for several years, announced that they were closing as of January, 2017.  Suddenly I faced (like so many other people) the reality that HUB was not meeting each Sunday.  Have you heard the saying that you don't miss something until you don't have it anymore?  HUB is not an easily replaceable event.  There is something incredibly unique about this group of people who gather each week.  HUB stands for His United Body and that is exactly what it is.  There are people of every age from infants to grey heads.  There are people of many races and many creeds.  Nancy always says that there is one common denominator at HUB - the only one that matters - Jesus and His saving work on the cross.  Because of the unity, because of the love of Jesus, there is always powerful worship and amazing teaching.  Well, last Sunday evening, I (along with several hundred other people) celebrated the return of HUB.  It was a new location.  Nancy is still recovering, but doing better.  But hundreds - yes hundreds of us came together once again.  Standing in that crowd, just breathing in the atmosphere, I was flooded with reminders of past HUB events.
As I mentioned at the start of this blog, I have not been feeling great.  And this new location for HUB is farther from home for me.  Needless to say, Sunday evening HUB helped to clear the fuzziness from my head.  I was so thankful to be in that place once again.

The icing on the cake at HUB was the message from Dana Morey.  If you take a moment and click on this link, you will see just a bit of who Dana Morey is.  Yes, the man that speaks before MILLIONS, is a friend of HUB and we are blessed - so blessed - that he comes and shares with us.  On Sunday night he shared the beginning of a powerful message (the message will be completed over the next two Sunday nights) to encourage and teach us how to truly transform our thinking so that we can have the mind of Christ!   Boy did I ever need to hear this message, considering my fuzzy thinking over the past weeks!  I can hardly wait for the next two Sunday evenings to get the complete message!  The nugget from his message that I want to share with you, is that it IS possible to change the way we think!  It is physically possible to remove old thought patterns from our brains and build new ways of thinking.

If you are like me and feeling like your thinking is muddled and fuzzy, this is very good news. I've had a couple of great examples of Jesus reaching me through my senses, even when I felt really distant and covered in a veil of fog.  The smile of a sweet baby, a delight for my eyes.  The smell of a wonderful spring bloom, a pleasing aroma.  The press of a crowd of friends and the presence of the Holy Spirit, a refreshing balm.  Followed by the wisdom and inspiration of a great message.  Yep, allergies are no match for a loving and powerful God!

Jesus, thank you for your amazing wonderful creation that bursts forth in blooms each spring.  Thank you for getting your message through to me, in spite of my clouded brain.  Thank you for HUB, for Nancy and Hank Mageira, and for Dana Morey.  Pour out your abundant blessings on your servants.  Holy Spirit, thank you for drawing your people together in unity.  Amen