Hurricane Ian – An Ongoing Journey

 Acts 17:26 ”And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,”

With delight we found our new dwelling place - a rare “annual rental” home on Sanibel Island in Florida. We moved in July to begin our retirement years on this beautiful tropical island. Still, Sanibel Community Church (SCC) was the main reason we picked Sanibel for retirement. They were missions minded, had expository teaching and solid doctrine, with fantastic church leadership. We thought we would serve out our days there.

 

We wanted to buy a home on Sanibel, but with historically high housing prices, it seemed like the Lord was telling us we needed to wait. After Hurricane Ian struck, we thanked the Lord for that guidance. We had nine amazing weeks on the island before Ian destroyed island life. We lived 1 ½ miles from the ocean and the water was 6 feet high on our street. Needless to say, we lost most of our household possessions. The hurricane destroyed the bridge to the island, so with the inability to get to any valuables, mold quickly set in. It has been 5 months since the hurricane and half the island is still without power. The devastation was massive as 150 mph winds blew with storm surges of up to 12 feet. The hardest part was that the storm blew the people we were in fellowship with out of their homes and most will not be able to return to those homes. During our short island time we had quickly bonded with our new church. We became family, calling each other brothers and sisters.  

 

Since the storm, we have slept in 12 different homes across 5 states. God provided each home through His people, and we are thankful. But with so many homes, it can be disorienting. Where is the bathroom in the middle of the night? Where do we forward our mail? 

 

We did not even have a fork to eat with, so how could we move into a temporary unfurnished place? God provided with a unique ‘God story’ as only He could do! I met a kindhearted young lady at a church retreat in the mountains of North Carolina 13 years ago. As God would have it, I lived not far from her parents at the time in Ponte Vedra, FL. Our friendship turned into a mentoring relationship as we visited each other in both NC and FL. I lived in NC for a period of time during our friendship. Now for the kicker. When Covid hit in 2020, my mentee’s mom left FL for PA to care for her 102-year-old mom by pulling her out of assisted living to protect her. After all, how long was Covid going to last? How long was she going to live? In 2021 my mentee’s dad left FL to join his wife in PA to help care for his mother-in-law. That left their furnished place in FL unoccupied. Well, grandma just turned 104-years-old last October.

In an action of extreme generosity, they offered for us to find refuge in their FL home. We have never been so thankful for a roof over our heads as we now have. We pray for grandma often! God put our living location into motion 13 years ago through His people. God is totally in control and He provides for His people. 

 

Where and when will we settle to close out our retirement years serving our Lord? We don’t know, but we seek to walk by faith as God knows exactly where and when according to Acts 17. That gives us peace. Our displacement is His placement. We want to learn all we can on the journey.

Ambulance & Heart Surgery

 PART 1 - Ambulance

Event:

On May 2^nd, I returned to church for the first time in 2021 after being fully vaccinated for Covid-19. I was thoroughly enjoying greeting some friends and feeling great. Worship began, and the first song took me straight to the throne of God. I was fully engaged and loving it. By the third song, I found it difficult to stand. I sat down feeling really hot and immediately broke into a huge sweat. My husband, Dan, noticed and sat with me. I told Dan that I was not doing well, and within a minute I was in and out of consciousness. They kept calling out my name to keep me awake. I just wanted to go to sleep as it was a real battle to stay conscious. My body was as limp as a rag doll, and when I came to, all I saw was black. It was like I was totally blind. Church security called 911, and I was taken by ambulance from church. Now how is that for a disruptive service! I remained in the rag doll condition fighting to stay awake for about an hour and a half. That is what happened physically, but what was God doing spiritually?

God’s Promise:

Phil 4:7,19 "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus...And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

God’s Provision:

That morning God sent a nurse from California to visit our church for the first time and placed her behind me. When she saw me collapse, she immediately came to help my husband take care of me. Because of the way God used her in that moment, she and her husband knew our church was the one God wanted them to join. Meeting her in person a month later, I was able to introduce her to our women’s director and sign her up for Bible study.

 

During the entire time that I was a rag doll in church and throughout the whole ambulance ride to the ER, I experienced the presence of God like never before. He put me at total peace in the midst of the storm. It was worth the crisis to experience that type of sweet presence with my faithful Lord. God showed up again in the ER when my personal concierge cardiologist returned my call at the same time the ER doctor returned to my room. Together they put together a plan that led to my best treatment. I returned home and two days later had a top of the line heart monitor attached to me that only my concierge cardiologist could get. 

 

Part 2- Upcoming Heart Surgery

Event:

After wearing a heart monitor for two weeks and mailing it to Houston to be read, we got the news:  “Houston, we have a problem.” The monitor had recorded 38 events which indicated I was at extremely high risk for sudden death while sleeping at night or even while simply walking around during the day. My prior ten years of heart failure combined with this new electrical issue in my heart made me a dead woman walking. I was referred to a surgeon who determined that installing a defibrillator would be the best approach and that the surgery should be done as soon as possible. When I experience arrhythmia in the future, this implanted device should shock my heart into a regular rhythm. I will go to the hospital Tuesday for pre-surgery testing, and the three-hour surgery is scheduled for June 4^th. On June 7^th Dan and I will celebrate our 35^th wedding anniversary. 

God’s Promise:

Psalm 139:16 "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” Psalm 73:26 "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

God’s Provision:

There will be no big trip for our 35^th wedding anniversary; instead, my husband will care for me in sickness as I recover from surgery. Dan has been so attentive and loving during this whole ordeal that our love and appreciation for one another has deepened. That is a gift from God. God knows the number of our days on this earth, so my days will not end one day too early or one day late. That truth gives me peace and helps me rest in His love in the storm. Additionally, mentees and friends are offering to bring us meals. Those who know me know that cooking is not my first love. What will a woman do to get out of cooking? Joking aside, God is meeting all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Your prayers are the most precious gift of all. Thank you!

Gold Nuggets

Developing one key attribute can bless us with surprising treasure. Ready to get truly rich? Join me in discovering this gold from a lesson recently taught from the book of James. It will take 35 minutes for this mining adventure, that will lead to a life changing golden nugget.

Here is the link: https://youtu.be/7tcOtu3UIGQ  Enjoy!

(If you would like a slightly higher resolution than what Youtube offers, email me and I will send you the Zoom download.)

Marvelous Mentoring Made Easy

Women enjoy sharing life’s challenges and joys with other women. Questions come to mind when we entertain the thoughts of having a mentoring relationship.

1. What makes mentoring relationships special?

2. How do we even begin to find a mentor who can relate to us?

3. If I’m asked to be a mentor, what do I do? It may be rewarding but parts of it sound scary!

4. What do helpful mentoring relationships look like?

During our Covid-19 time, I was interviewed by the Ladies of Life Director, Kristin Milks, on the subject of mentoring. She says that she gets more questions about mentoring than any other topic. Join us as I answer the questions listed above along with a few more. 

Our Zoom meeting was recorded and uploaded to YouTube. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P-xLZF87tQ&feature=youtu.be .

Grab a cup of coffee or tea to be entertained by our 32 minute conversation.

May we all experience the blessings of meaningful mentoring.

New Life at the Age of 82

My mom had been recently widowed after 62 years of marriage and I was getting ready to make another trip to MD to help with maintenance on her home. Just before leaving, God prompted me to take a tract (brochure) that I had had for years on the trip. The term “tract” is such a “Christianese” term, “Tract?... where’s the land?”

On my last evening in MD, I gave the brochure to my mom, along with these words which I had not planned, “Mom, I have already lost dad; I don’t want to lose you too. I would like you to read this brochure.” The cover read, “Are you Good Enough to go to Heaven?”. Inside it read, “This is the most important question you will ever ask yourself. Most people respond, Well, I am not that bad, I have never murdered anyone.” Then the brochure said, “Let’s see how you stack up against God’s 10 commandments. First commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” It gave an example of a Father who bought a TV for his family. He came home from work the next day and said, “Hi kids, I’m home.” The kids paid no attention to their father because they were glued to the TV. The children were worshiping the gift rather than the giver of the gift. The brochure asked, “Do we do the same thing with God? Do we worship the gifts God has given us (our jobs, our family, our talents) to the point where we start to worship the gifts more than the Giver?” The gifts become our gods.  

The following morning, my mom initiated a conversation about the brochure. The evening before, was the last debate between Clinton & Trump. (Just goes to show that God can redeem anything!) My mom told me she only had time to read the first commandment in the brochure before the debates started. She said, “Instead of continuing to read about God, I chose to cast him aside to watch the TV debates. I already sinned.” Because of the TV example used in the brochure and God’s perfect timing, it was the first time I had ever heard my mom say, “I sinned,” or seen her have any conviction of sin! Just to be clear, I am not saying that watching TV is a sin. But, isn’t it awesome to see how God’s timing worked? I told my mom to read the rest of the brochure and let me know what she thought.

A few days later, my mom called and brought up the brochure!  She said, “I read all the commandments, and I wondered how anyone could be good enough to go to heaven.” My spirit soared as I saw her understanding! She said she was so relieved to see that the propitiation of the blood of Jesus covers our sins! Did she just use the word “propitiation”… a seminary word?! I had shared the gospel with my mom about 100 times before that moment and for the first time, her heart was really hearing it, like she had never heard it before. I wondered whether or not my mom thought that Jesus’ blood covered everyone on earth and we are all forgiven? So, I said, “That’s right mom, for those who receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. To receive Jesus as Lord means to follow Jesus as he becomes your boss, your leader, your guide. Is that what you would like to do mom?” “I believe so”, was her response. l said, “We can do that in one of two ways. You can just talk to God yourself or I can help you with what to pray to God.  But, that will only work if you truly believe what is prayed to God. She said, “Well, I am new at this. I believe I will need some help. I would like to write down my own thoughts so maybe we could do a combination of the two ways.” I thought to myself… perfect!

After two weeks of playing phone tag and various other distractions we finally connected. She told me that she had written out her prayer a week ago! My mom prayed the sweetest grace-based, Jesus-following salvation prayer.

My mom is now eagerly reading the study bible I sent her as she daily spends time with Jesus.

I have spoken at many Christian events that mothers and daughters attended together. I thought that was something I would never experience. Now, my mom and I will have an eternity together at the biggest Christian event ever – Heaven!

Marvelous Myanmar Missions (An Excerpt from my Letter to my Prayer Team)

Dear Precious Prayer Team,

"I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done." Psalm 9:1

Prayer warriors, I wish you knew how many times I thought of you while I was on the other side of the earth. My thoughts were of great gratitude and marvel of all God was doing through you. 

On this trip I served and roomed with a missionary that has been in the field for 30 years in many different parts of the world. She said that in all her years of watching women be taught, she has never seen a group that was engaged as much as these women. They were hungry for truth from the word.

They took down notes like they were placing pieces of treasure in their journals. They read every scripture outloud together as it was taught. Many surrendered their lives to Jesus as their Lord and Savior. They said they now understood Lordship and Repentance as the Grace of Jesus rescues them from a Buddhist infested nation. They were bold to witness as one lady went to another village one evening after our sessions to share Christ with her new salvation bracelet! She was not waiting till the end of the conference to spread what she was learning! They slept on hard concrete floors for 6 straight nights, with all kinds of flying and crawling insects. They welcomed us with the warmest appreciation that you could have imagined. 

One of the first things I told them, was about you - my prayer team that was praying for them! They asked for our picture so that they could pray for us daily. I felt so unworthy of such an honor. They were extremely poor, but they were some of the riches people that I have ever meet. They were like sponges that soaked up the living word. Two of them women turned their lives over to full time missions. This means that like their pastors, they will lose their jobs (most worked in the rice fields that surrounded this area). That is what happens when you share the gospel in their environment. Christ is truly everything to them when they become followers. The test of their commitment comes quickly! They are stronger because of that test. Once more I went to teach, but I came away the student.

 Your prayers opened their hearts as these new believers went from milk to meat quickly. You have to grow up fast in a country where they stone your church. It will be an amazing day in heaven when we all watch those you prayed for receive their crown of life! 

 My heart is full and yours should be also. As the Lord reminds you, continue to pray for the women of Myanmar. 

​"​Then our mouth was filled with laughter,and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then they said among the nations,

    “The Lord has done great things for them.”  Psalm 126:2

I am eternally grateful as You all are the most Vital part of any missions team!

Waves That Rock Us

My dad died a little over a week ago. I was celebrating my 30^th wedding anniversary on a Christian Alaskan Cruise when I got word of his death. You can imagine the mix of emotions in that situation.  What makes my dad’s passing hardest is that he refused the existence of God and refused Jesus even in his last days.  He would use the name of Jesus, but only in vain in the form of a curse word.

        

As a daughter, how do I deal with all of this? The same way we deal with all of life’s challenges. We press hard into the one relationship we know that is rock solid – the relationship that we have with our heavenly Father. The day before I got news of his death, I took notes from Dr. Charles Stanley, who was the keynote speaker on our cruise. He shared that God has given us a lot of promises in the Bible and we need to live our lives relying on those promises. Then Dr. Stanley taught that with all those promises, the one thing that God did not promise was “understanding.”  That really struck me. The way to handle life’s challenges is not to try to “understand” them, but instead we need to rest in the promises that we do know. 

These are the promises in which I am resting from Matthew 11:28-29:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

God in His grace allowed me to be on this cruise full of Christian teaching and music as I received word of my dad’s death. After I received the news in the afternoon, I attended a concert that night where a saxophonist played, “It is Well with My Soul.” It was like God was playing that just for me. I had related the story behind that song to my Bible study class several years ago. The writer of the hymn (Horatio Spafford), had lost his son, his business, and most recently, his four daughters had tragically died at sea. I can’t imagine the pain from so much loss. As Spafford later sailed over the location where they believed his daughters were drowned at sea, he went down to the bottom of the ship to get as close to them as he could and he penned, “When sorrow like sea billows roll; it is well, it is well with my soul.” I, too, was at sea with the ship rolling in the sea billows, and the words went straight to my heart. I did not find understanding, but what I found was so much better. My burdened soul found rest and I could truly say, “It is well with my soul”. The ship gently rocked me to sleep that night, and I slept like a rock as God my forever Father was and is faithful to his promises.