What a Gift!

Prayer is an amazing gift from God.  We can pray anytime, anywhere, no matter what the circumstances are.  Many of you have prayed consistently for Hu and our other family members.  We have experienced peace and encouragement as a result of your prayers.

I was thinking back today of times and places I have been when I have prayed.  Driving my car, at the hospital, taking a walk, with friends, with family, in my devotion time with the Lord and of course, endless other places.  Intercession for others is a real privilege.  Actually, probably the miracle of prayer is not where or how we pray but that the Lord hears each one.  That is such a blessing.

The Great Awakening (cont'd from May 20 post)

Disguised by its pleasant sounding recording, that announcement, “We will now begin making connections,” sounded much more ominous as it was played the second time.  After my outburst earlier when the giant wheel I was on had backed away from the darker one, the electrodes that were attached to me had popped off.

What Is Your Calling?

In my daily Bible reading this morning I was in the book of Ezra.  The chapter began with a list of names of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken captive.  As I was going through the list, I thought, "What value does this have for me?"

Then, as I kept reading I noticed that certain names had particular responsibilities.  I began to think about that and was thankful that I am living in a time when I just follow the Lord's leading for my responsibilities and that all the Harrill descendents aren't singers or priests or gatekeepers of the temple.  Although some families have a vocation which is handed down to succeeding generations, I'm thankful for the variety that we can experience today.

Tour of the Ages (cont'd from May 13 post)

Once more, I found myself watching as an observer and saw my body lying at the edge of what appeared to be a very large wheel or turntable that could possibly have encompassed the entire pit area.  My head was toward the wall along which the wheel moved and my body lay straight out from the wall, unlike in the past when I had been lying parallel to it. 

Strength?

As I was reading in 2 Chronicles this morning about Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, the phrase, "His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord," stood out to me.  It made me think about Hu's comment yesterday when he was having a particularly difficult day.  At lunch when he thanked the Lord for the food he also thanked Him for the strength that He had given us for the day.  When he finished, I said, "Strength?"  (implying, "What strength?")  His reply was, "Well, I was able to come downstairs to eat," which he had not been able to do just a couple of months ago.  He continues to be thankful even during the hard days.

Extreme Love (cont'd from May 6 post)

Soon, I saw the familiar labyrinth of air supply channels and chambers again.  But this time I noticed a kind of meter in the pathway that was measuring the rate of air flow that I was receiving.  I sensed that I was no longer getting an adequate amount to breathe normally.  As I recall, it was now at about 3.5 (whatever that meant) and I did not know what it had been.

Wake Up and Listen

Today started a little earlier than normal for me.  As I awakened I could see Hu deep in sleep and hear him breathing.  What a refreshing sound.  The confirmation that the Lord allowed us both to see another day made me grateful for the gift of life.

As the day passed the devil worked hard to take away that special joy the Lord had given me early this morning.  Everyday frustrations were beginning to wear me down until I realized that the Lord has power over those feelings and I needed to trust Him to work through them.

Yesterday while the PT therapist was here Hu did some exercises and then took him for a walk.  She was exuberant when they returned and he had made the goal that she had set for him to walk for 20 minutes without stopping.  Some times I tend to forget the details of the heart wrenching days we went through while the Lord was performing the miracle that we experienced in Hu's life.  But thankfully now it is times like these that remind us that the Lord is continuing to strengthen him each day.

In my Bible reading this week I was reminded of how good God has been to us through David's words:
Praise be to you, Lord,
    the God of our father Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting.
 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
    and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
    for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
    you are exalted as head over all.
 Wealth and honor come from you;
    you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
    to exalt and give strength to all.
 Now, our God, we give you thanks,
    and praise your glorious name.
1 Chron. 19:10b - 13

“Open Your Eyes!” (cont'd from Apr 29 post)

With teeth still tightly clinched on the visor extension I came under attack by an agent of the pit to open my mouth.  I could hear something like a suction or spraying kind of sound and a voice commanding me, “Open your mouth!” as I felt something nasty-tasting being squirted into my mouth.  I didn’t dare relax my grip because the symbol test might begin again and I also knew that this was helping to keep my outer eyes closed.  Then it started…a barrage of verbal and physical assaults to get me to open my eyes.  I knew I had to guard against this at all cost.

"Bloom Where You are Planted"

Two surprises awaited me as I set out for an early morning walk today.  The first was my newspaper which was placed closer to our home by one of our thoughtful neighbors.  The other was a lone white azalea blossom on a very small azalea bush.  All of the azaleas in our yard have come and gone so I was intrigued by this one.

I remember seeing a book entitled, Bloom Where You are Planted.  I've been thinking about that thought lately.  Often we find ourselves doing things quite different than we had envisioned for our lives.  Obviously, with such a supportive husband as Hu, it didn't occur to me that I might be his caregiver.  However, I am confident that the Lord has a special plan for each of us, and we should "bloom where we are planted" and do that task well.