Believe in Miracles

Our daughter was about to start first grade. She was excited and so were we, so our preparations began in earnest well in advance of the start date. On our agenda, in addition to the new school clothes, was a visit to our family pediatrician for a physical exam.

The exam nearly over, the doctor took her to the eye chart. There, one of a parent’s worst nightmares came true. Naomi could only read the huge E at the top of the chart! Immediately, the pediatrician made an appointment with an ophthalmologist, and we saw her that afternoon. What we learned was frightening indeed, so we were sent on to Massachusetts Eye and Ear, a world famous clinic.

There, pictures were taken of Naomi’s retina, and we spent half a day in tests. Dr, Burson told Ron and I that our daughter was legally blind and would be totally blind within a year – Rubella Retinopathy was the cause, he said. That doctor referred us back to our ophthalmologist, who wasn’t yet satisfied, even though the slides of Naomi’s retinas accompanied her records. We were sent back to Massachusetts Eye and Ear to the world’s leading retina specialist. After a full day of testing, we were ushered into the physician’s office. One physician read aloud the results of her day’s tests while the other looked into her eyes with the ophthalmoscope.

Suddenly, the physician swung around on his chair. “Mom and Dad,” he exclaimed, “take your girl home. There’s nothing wrong with her eyes and there never will be unless she has some sort of accident.”

“But doctor,” we questioned, “How is this possible? There are pictures of her retina that show rubella retinopathy. We don’t understand!”

“Yes,” he replied. “I have the pictures. Last week there were spots on her retina. Today there are none. You believe in prayer, don’t you?”

Of course we believed in prayer, and what we had just witnessed was a miracle. God still is in the miracle business. We have seen several miracles done for that daughter, and we count on them to continue today.

Believing in miracles helps us to recognize them when they are dropped in our laps, as they often are. Our disbelief prevents us from seeing them and being thankful to the One who so generously sends them our way.

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Face Your Fears

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. - Ambrose Redmoon

Have you ever been scared to death? I have! It was about three and a half years ago, when an MRI revealed that I had a big problem in my neck – a problem that required a surgical intervention to fix it.

Being a nurse can certainly have its advantages and it can also be detrimental, in that you picture the worst. In my case, I was mortified of the anesthesia, and having a doctor working so closely to my spine was daunting at best! However, neglecting to have the surgery was a surefire way to become paralyzed and remain in severe pain. So…. it was off to the hospital for me.

My surgeon lives about a fourteen hour drive from our home, so we set off in the car on this adventure. About halfway to our destination, I burst into tears and shared with Ron how frightened I was. I said that I was afraid that if the surgery didn’t do me in, my fear would.

Now, I really had no choice but to face the thing I feared, but I didn’t have to face it alone. I suggested to Ron that perhaps he and my surgeon, a wonderful Christian man and the local pastor there, would pray together for me – a special service called an anointing. Ron agreed that it was a good idea.

The night before surgery, I met at the church with the three men, and the anointing took place. They prayed that my fear would be relieved and that the surgery would be successful. The next morning, as I was wheeled to the operating room, I sang. I sang a hymn that I had learned as a child. As the anesthetist was starting to put me to sleep, I continued singing, quietly to myself. What a way to go to sleep!

I faced my fear – the surgery and the anesthesia, but I took along with me the assurance, the fortitude that I had obtained the night before. I learned that day that I can face most anything as long as I am not alone.

How do you face your fears – or do you? What gives you the daring to look fear in the eye, and move forward anyway? Sure would love to hear from you! We’ll post some of your responses on the website.

Oh, by the way, the five hour operation was a big success!

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Live in the Moment

Some folk are scheduled to the max! I don’t mean that they are extremely busy, but that they have a day and time for every activity in which they engage. Monday supper is something chicken, Tuesday its beef, Wednesday is spaghetti day, Thursday is soup and salad, Friday . . . well, you get the point.

Are you so scheduled that you can’t throw in a wash on Tuesday, or refuse to shop for groceries any time other than Thursday evening? Do you never stay out past nine o’clock during the week, or because you must have your eight hours of beauty sleep and be to work by 8 am, you avoid socializing during the week?

Living in the moment, being spontaneous offers opportunities that you might never have unless you break free of your routine. To be sure, having a certain amount of routine can be valuable, but being married to that rigid routine, negates many experiences that spontaneity can offer.

Children have the ability to enjoy every moment; to respond positively to invitations regardless of the “what if’s.” Maybe that’s one of the reasons that the Bible tells us that we should be like children – open, accepting, free and untied to a set-in-cement routine.

In his book, "If I Get to Five", Frank Epstein, M.D. states: “Adults tend to learn a different lesson as we grow older – that our identity is gradually hardening into a form-fitting shell that defines who we are, what we believe, and what we can accomplish. And that’s the trap we all have to avoid, because once we believe we’re as grown up as we’ll ever get, it’s Game Over.”

One little boy in Dr. Epstein’s book had endured two arduous spinal operations and was scheduled for a third. This time, he was scared to death. He had begged his mother to buy him a rather pricey Batman costume, which she was previously reluctant to do. The morning of his surgery, they left their house early, went by the costume shop and she bought the Batman outfit for her son.

In the hospital’s parking lot, they hid behind their car and he changed into the costume. With renewed courage, he marched in to the hospital and toward the operating room, having left his fear behind. As he passed through the corridors, nurses, doctors and patients called out, “Hey Batman!” Those moments of spontaneity gave him the fortitude to face surgery number three bravely.

Sometimes you just have to step out of the ordinary, the routine, the safe or the expected, become someone different than the usual, and live life to the fullest, in the moment. Try it!

Stony Ground and Trials

While we have been enjoying the summer in the cool, clear, mountain air at our retreat, we have also been doing a lot of landscaping, or I should say our friends have with the help of their excavator. Our property is looking so much better now, that it’s become quite inspiring. My friend Donna and I were so inspired, that we decided to take the Kawasaki “Mule” into the forest to see if we could dig out a few tiny trees to use around our property. We had seen so many little cuties, so armed with a shovel and a hand spade, her Mini-Schnauzer, Toby, and our Maddie, we headed for the woods.

We schmoozed around until we found a little fir, about a foot tall. “This will be easy,” we told each other, as we dismounted and grabbed our tools. But we were in for quite a surprise!
We couldn’t seem to get to the soil for all of the rocks surrounding that spindly tree trunk. The two of us, bent in half, struggled and struggled for about twenty minutes, and kept telling ourselves that we were crazy to pursue. But it’s like this, we were both focused, big time, on getting that little tree. So we persevered until finally we were able to free the roots from the rocks to which it had clung so tightly.

We are so proud that we succeeded, and will plant that little stubborn character some place special on the property, and each time we see it and watch it grow, we’ll recall the lesson we learned from that tree.

It may be tough to grow in stony ground, to work your way through the trials and hard experiences of life, but that enables you to build strength – physical strength and strength of character.

When the destructive experiences come, those that would destroy you, you will have the strength to hold fast, to not become discouraged or dislodged from your position. Your roots can grow very deep into the nourishing soil of God’s love and grace.

Someone once said that the trials we endure are workmen to help us to perfect our character. Just yesterday, I told that to a friend who has endured a concentration of agony lately. Her husband had a fall while they were on a foreign vacation – a fall that nearly took his life due to multiple internal injuries. Weeks later on a trip to see family, she had a fall, and broke a vertebra in her back. Her husband’s blood pressure remains difficult to control since his fall, and just last night, his temperature escalated. Next morning, it was discovered that he has an impacted and infected wisdom tooth that has to come out. And she faces still the possibility of serious back surgery or body cast. Today we learned that in addition to everything else going on, her hubby has Shingles, as well. It’s as if a black cloud has parked above their heads with no intention of moving on out!

Trials are the rocks through which we must grow. They do build strength and endurance, and if you are anything like trees, you surely will grow strong and be able to endure such things as the pull and tug caused by two foolish women endeavoring to transplant you. Unlike the tree, you will not be moved!