Day 13- Draw the Circle - One Day

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Theme:  God can accomplish more in one day than we can accomplish in a lifetime.

WHAT DID YOU HEAR?
Don't stop in the middle of the process.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
The last several weeks have felt like a series of days trading between pit-bottom despair and mountain-top euphoria.  It's been very hard to see neutral:

Time in the pit began with two cancer scares.  The first was when the doctor found unexplainable lining in my uterus that they thought could be cancerous.  The second came after my first mammogram shortly after.  There was an "area of concern" in my left breast. Both of these required follow-up testing.  In the midst of this personal trial, I still had a husband to support, a daughter to take care of, a home to manage and a business to run.  Life does not stop for crisis.  I managed every aspect through prayer, determined to find the blessing, with praise on my lips, regardless of how God chose to answer them.

The mountain top experience then came when the tests came back:  NO CANCER!!  There is NOTHING like that burden being lifted from your shoulders. The miracle was that what they saw in my uterus before was now back in normal range.  The doctor couldn't explain why but I know why. This was a HUGE praise. 

Now, because of all this testing, it created excessive medical bills that we didn't budget for.  These are a huge blow to our finances, especially for a family trying to stay away from credit cards.  Traveling for my brother's wedding is not the time for our finances to collapse.

But in all of this, we celebrate my baby brother's marriage. We LOVE my sister-in-law and truly, their union is an answer to prayer.  May God bless them and all their years together.

On the way to the wedding today, I got a call letting me know my biological father died.  I'm heartbroken for the family and my head is spinning. I can barely process all this is going on and medical bills are going to make it nearly impossible to get to the funeral.

Did I mention this is a season of pit-bottom despair and mountain-top euphoria?  I'd like to take a breath anytime now...

Believe it or not, this is only part of what's gone on.  If I'm to be completely honest, it's hard for me to feel hopeful and joyful today...but not impossible.  My brother's smiling face, the presence of my family...it helps to temper my sorrow.  The medical bills are a huge blow, but without them, I wouldn't have been given my peace of mind.  That is priceless.

God is telling me not to give up in the process and to move from one miracle to the next.  He speaks it into my Spirit because God knows it would be so easy for me to wallow in worry, to be paralyzed while waiting for another shoe to drop. Beloved, we have to KEEP GOING to experience the next blessing, the next moment of inspiration, the next mountain top experience.  We can't give up JUST SHORT.

WHAT WILL YOU DO?
Take one day, one hour, one moment at a time...

NOW TALK TO GOD...
Lord, You tell me to get to the next blessing but Lord, I'm struggling right now.  Forgive me, Father, for any lack of faith in me right now or my lack of gratitude in the miracles You have already done. It's just so hard for me to feel everything all at once.  Through it all, though, my eyes will continue to look for You, even when I can't feel Your presence.  Father, when I feel like I can't take another step, please carry me. In Jesus' name, amen.