"My wheelchair is a blessing"

Sometimes I am embarrassed. I think I have it tough. We don't have a new church home; Wes' law practice is starting slowly and we need income; I don't have a job; when will we really feel connected in Toledo; were really supposed to come "home"?...then I look at people who have real problems.

I've been reading Joni Eareckson Tada's book - "The God I Love" - which should be on your short list of books to read this year - and I am embarrassed. She has a severed spinal column. She has been living in a wheelchair since she was 18. She can say with honesty that her accident and her life in a wheelchair has been the greatest blessing in her life. It brought her closer to God, it has taken her into a life of ministry that is international in scope. She brings awareness and help and hope to the plight of those who are disabled. She glories God.

My problems are real and they are a challenge. But they are temporary! We will find work and have income and find a church home and be involved in ministry again. My challenge now can be what draws me closer to God or away from him. My challenges reveal my purpose -- to know and love Jesus. I can trust God in spite of my problems, because of my problems, or simply because He is trustworthy. Either way I can commit to knowing and loving him more in the challenges I face.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — Romans 8:35-39

The Flu

About the Flu

Help protect yourself and your family from the flu by knowing the facts:

• The flu is a contagious virus that is spread from one person to another through tiny droplets that are released into the air when a person infected with the flu coughs or sneezes.
• Sometimes, people can become infected by touching their nose or mouth after touching something infected by the flu virus.
• Most healthy adults can infect others one day before they begin experiencing and up to five days after they become sick. That means you can pass on the flu to someone else before you know you are sick, as well as while you are sick.
• A typical case of the flu can last up to one week.
• The flu can be a serious illness, particularly for mature populations aged 50 and older, and those with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, and asthma.

Now I Lay Me Down to Rest

No longer will I laugh at flu shots. Bring 'em on! I just spent 8 out of the last 12 days on the couch with a revolving docket of symptoms - fever, chills, cough, sore throat, cough, headache, cough, achy body...what a nightmare! Someone suggested it would be nice for me to have some down time so I could rest...read...whatever. Like I didn't already have that 24 hours a day.

Thing is, it was what I needed. I had a different sort of rest - I think God used my couch time as a sort of "rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength." (Psalm 23:2-3)

Those of you who know me know that I haven't worked for several months. If nothing else, I have time. Time to read and think and reflect and do projects and sort of just hang around. And I've done all of that. But this time on the couch...it was different. I didn't just read and reflect. I talked to God. I listened. I had questions to ask and tough answers to listen to and ultimately it led to peace.

Because in recent weeks I haven't felt much peace. We felt God lead us out of Kingman, AZ last summer and we wanted to come "home". Home meant Ohio, closer to family and friends. Home did not come with a job for myself or Wes; it meant moving to Ohio and settling in and not knowing the future. And recently I've begun to worry. There's the bank balance; the law practice Wes is starting veeerrrrryyyyy slowly. The no income and daily outgo and not finding a church home and wanting to connect. And questions - what if's. Coulda/woulda/shoulda -- nothing can change the past.

Last week in the midst of the coughing and sleeping and reading and talking to God I felt renewed. The past remains the same. The future is unclear. But there's peace. And faith...and trust. The God who could raise Jesus from the dead is the same God who cares about me. Maybe he put me on the couch, maybe it was just a bug....but He is the One who can handle my needs he has not forgotten that I'm out here---he hasn't and he couldn't. That's peace.

Trust

"Jack, you're hurting me."

"Trust me, I'm not."

Trust, it would seem, is a matter of perspective.

'24' or Family Ties?

This week we met Jack's family - his brother Graem, "who pulled the strings in last spring's plot by President Logan" (Gary Levin, USA Today). That was quite a surprise. Then there is Jack's father Philip,and former girlfriend Maryland, now Graem's wife. Graem and Maryland have a son...Josh....or is he Jack's?

'24' is not only off to an intense, suspenseful start, it holds the promise of exploring Jack's background. Which I find intriguing.

All of us are shaped by our environment. The good, bad and ugly of it molds and shapes our thoughts, words and actions. Some good and some not so good.

It is kind of like the nature or nurture question. Some of who we are is by nature - our genetic predisposition toward certain traits. But nurture, or perhaps a better word would be shaping, explains the rest and possibly most.

What results is our response to nature and shaping. At some point we can look at how we are shaped and respond by embracing what we like and minimizing the negative aspects of what we dislike.

Future episodes will bring more insight into Jack's background and possibly explain more of his personality, fierce loyalty, and willingness to sacrifice for a cause. Is it because of or in spite of his family?

"24"

"It’s not a good decision, it’s not a bad decision. It’s our only option. One man’s life for the rest of us."

Sound familiar? If you didn’t know better you might think that was God contemplating what to do about a world that turned away from him when actually it was a conversation about Jack Bauer during the premiere of the hit series “24”.

My husband and I waited eagerly for the premiere last night and we weren't disappointed. Chloe still scowls and Jack is positioned to save the country. Again.

I casually mentioned to my husband that Jack Bauer is what women want in a man -- handsome, strong, protects those around him, takes risks. All right - so he kills a few too many people in the process.

Bauer had been held hostage for two years by the Chinese. His release was arranged by President Wayne Thompson in exchange for knowledge about a suspected terrorist.

Jack knew his life was being sacrified, “I survived 2 years in a Chinese prison because I didn’t want to die for nothing. I know what’s expect of me and I’m prepared.”

In the first twenty minutes there are so many redemption messages I lost count.

We want and need heroes. We want and need to be heroes.

Winning

Listening to President Bush last night one message I heard was that we've made mistakes - we're shifting our plan of attack - and we will persevere. Those might not be the exact words but I think it was the intent. And I am not an expert on strategy or politics so I make no claim about that.

What I did hear - and liked - was admitting to mistakes and changing strategy. Our work in Iraq to date is not failure - we need to adjust our strategy to accomodate circumstances as they are now.

It takes boldness and strength of character to shift gears. And the more public the gear shifting - the more courage it takes.

For someone (me) who lived in what might be considered a "failing" church environment I can state with much confidence - I didn't fail! The church didn't fail! We made changes to accomodate new circumstances.

Kingdom work - like war - requires never ending evaluation, analysis and strategy adjustments. Some of the Kingdom work I have been involved in required me to set aside my personal agenda - my personal desire for "success" and do what is best for the Kingdom. I had to sacrifice "what will people think" for the greater good. In the last couple of years Desert Crossroads brought a lot of glory to God. It's final chapter may have been it's greatest testimony to God's work being done - not man's.