In Response......

This blog entry is to respond to an 'anonymous' comment I received after writing a blog called 'The Debilitating Disease of 'Hypochondriasis''.

Dear 'Anonymous', I read your comment, and deleted it, as I felt that you totally misunderstood the context and spirit behind my writings. Although things are a bit busy right now, I felt compelled to sit down and write to you, because although I don't know you, you matter to me. I have immense empathy for you and your little daughter.

I'm assuming that you don't know me personally. I have been in the ministry all my life....I have worked with hundreds of people and held many hands in hospital rooms of people that in one day their life has taken a turn, and changed forever. THESE people are NOT the ones that I am referring to in my blog.

My post was referring to people that have nothing wrong with them, and try to conjure up sickness and affliction.

I am right now thinking of a girl that I won to the Lord that I have always described her as a 'Pentecostal Model'. An incredibly beautiful girl. Talented girl. She was very active and right in the middle of everything our church did. This girl is the same age as my oldest son, and has been like a daughter to me. At the age I think it was 21, one day she was helping her family with something, and all the sudden she couldn't walk or move. They took her to the Doctor and found out that the bones in her back were deteriorating. **I don't know all the medical details**, but to make a very long story short, she had a couple of very serious surgeries. (The first one, the Surgeon might have even done more damage than good).....This beautiful, talented, girls life changed in one day. She lives in pain like very few can relate to. She lives in an almost bedridden state. Her condition is not one that is 'conjured up' or the invention of a negative disposition. In fact she has never blamed God, and from her bed has made outreach calls and helped in organizational things.... from her bed. She has a debilitating situation, but it is NOT hypochondriasis.

I have also been in a surgical waiting room of someone that the doctor came out with dozens of 8x10 colored pictures (that he took during exploratory surgery), almost apologetically telling the husband that "as hard as I have tried to find something wrong with your wife,... I can't. I took these pictures as proof. Unfortunately, this is one time that I think my patient will be disappointed." He and the husband looked each other in the eye, both silently acknowledging the fact that this lady definitely was sick, but it was a different kind of sickness. Both shook their heads, and the doctor walked out.

Being able to discern the 'real' from the 'fake' is an asset when in the ministry. Although all need love and direction, there is only 24 hours in a day, and if we couldn't discern who really needed help, the ones who need it the most would be neglected.

I also must add that I have seen many a home broken because of this very 'Debilitating Disease of Hypochondriasis',.....if we don't address it, we really aren't helping anyone in the end are we?

My heart and prayers are with you and your daughter.

The Debilitating Disease of 'Hypochondriasis'

Do you know anyone with this disease? I’m sure we all have run into one or two in our lifetime. The problem is…..do they know it’s them?? Do they know that we all try to avoid all the talk about their aches and pains? Do they know that we are inwardly cringing when they seemly turn every conversation into a session regarding their latest doctors appointment?

How can they get so animated and excited when telling you about their gallbladder and feet problems for the umpteenth time? If it weren’t so pitiful, it would be hilariously funny!! What a miserable way to live!

I have often wondered, what motivates a person with ‘Hypochondriasis? Is it attention seeking, or merely an extremely negative personality? Do these same people find their self complaining about everything? It’s too cold, it’s too hot, it’s too loud, it’s not loud enough….?

We have watched a girl in our church go through 4 years of stage 4 Cancer. She has had endless sessions of chemo, and radiation. A Stem Cell Transplant, and 3 brain surgeries, and 1 hip surgery later, she is a beaming light of joy and optimism. I have noticed that she would much rather talk about other things. Why? Because she knows what it REALLY means to be sick and to suffer. ‘Real’ illness is not ‘glamorized’ in her mind, for she has truly experienced the ‘shadow of death’ and unthinkable pain. If anyone had rights to complain or be consumed with ‘sickness’, this girl would. But she doesn’t.

If you are reading this, God has so graciously given you the gift of life. In fact today, God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds! He also fearfully and wonderfully made YOU. Instead of being so fascinated with the negative and infatuated with sickness, why don’t you take a deep breath, smile as wide as you can, turn on some high-steppin’ music that gives glory to your incredible creator, and just simply sing…..Thank You.

Thank you for each new morning with its light, for rest and shelter of the night, for health and food, for love and friends….for everything Thy goodness sends.

Here’s my prescription,…..Thankfulness!!

Parenting, kids, influence....Rambling!

When raising our kids, many times we shielded them, or maybe a better way of saying it is; 're-directed' them from spending time with certain peers. These 'peers' many times were 'somebodies'. These peers many times were 'THE' ones to be seen with. I know that others watching from the outside probably thought we were crazy. After all, doesn't everyone want their kids to be seen with 'them'?!

I must admit that there were times that I would second-guess myself. "Can these kids REALLY negatively affect my kids?? After all, we're talking about the growing up years when they weren't doing horrible things-why be SO careful?............I can't explain it. It was always just a feeling I would get. An intuition. At those times I would pray that I was doing the right thing for my kids, and just keep on trucking, and re-directing, with my fingers crossed, and my heart holding its breath.

Our kids never knew it. In fact, very recently my husband and I, Chantal (17), and David (20) , were sitting across the table from a minister who asked us to give him some of our parenting philosophies. At this moment, just a few months ago, my kids heard for the very first time our ideas and feelings on this subject. (Our reasoning for not telling them what we were doing, was that we didn't want to raise kids that felt like they were 'superior', or 'better' than others. Had that happened, WE would have been the ones hurting them.) They listened quite captivated and somewhat surprised.

During all this time, and still to this day, we teach our kids that GOD gives them their identity - not people. GOD elevates them - people don't.

I'm so grateful to God for His help. I've seen my kids grow up to be very secure in who they are. I have seen them love people regardless of their 'status'. I see in them a real depth. The 'cool' thing to them is living for God.... so if you do that, no matter who you are, what you look like, how much your daddy makes a year, ....you're accepted, and they'll love you.

In looking back, I can truly say that those 'intuitions' (that I truly believe are God given), never steered us wrong. My kids were shielded and protected from influences that would have harmed them, not physically, but spiritually. In the end, there's only one that can elevate them, .....and He knows their name, He knows their every thought, He sees each tear that falls, and He hears them when they call!!!!

Family

What is going on in this head of mine tonight? I’m thinking about a word that means the world to me. Family.

What makes a great family? What makes a close family? What makes a strong family and keeps a family together?

I have been in the ministry all my life, and have observed many families. What stands out the most to me when I see a family that has that extra ‘specialness’ is one thing. Love. There is a little plaque that I put in a very conspicuous spot right out side our front door. Everyone that enters our home sees it. It reads, ‘Love is Spoken Here’. I’m really big on this. Our family not just ‘speaks’ love, but ‘shows’ love. To some who have not been raised this way, and look at our ‘way’ as ridiculous, or unnecessary, ....I don’t feel intimidated or in the least bit daunted…I just feel sorry….for you.

There have been times over the years when we felt immense pressure and had to take stands regarding the way we raised our children. We were ‘over-protective’, or ‘over-bearing’, …..etc….. Peer pressure comes outfitted a whole lot of different ways, and from a whole lot of different kinds of people. However, to this, we would stand tall, square our shoulders, smile, and, do it our way.

The ‘over-bearing’ mantra has never intimidated me. Proverbs…”She watches over the affairs of her household.” It is my job before God! (And when she does), “Her children arise and call her blessed.”

Love causes you to do a lot of things you didn’t think you were strong enough to do. One of them is sometimes standing up to people, and not always taking the easy road.

We are not finished raising our kids quite yet, but we are already blessed with little rewards that mean the world to a loving mom and dad…..

One of them happened just a couple of nights ago, when my beautiful daughter approached me, and trusted me with her heart. These are times that I stop and reflect, and thank God for the bond that we share.

Other rewards are when one of David’s clients (whom I have never met) sent me a 2 page letter giving me honor and thanking me because of the quality son I have raised. **David does her Pest Control.

Other rewards are when your own children call you blessed. A few years ago Jonathan left a message on our answering machine thanking us for the way we have raised him, and how much he appreciates us and loves us for it. The message was so heartfelt and touching that I have saved it to this very day, and listen to it frequently….it just makes my day so much brighter.

Although a little fragmented, I hope my rambling thoughts encourage a parent today. Don’t be lazy. Don’t be easily intimidated. Pray and ask God for guidance, wisdom, and direction. After doing that, just simply STAND. Stand and Love.

I have all the faith in the world that when you do this, you will have a great family, a close family,…a strong family that stays together through everything that life brings your way.

***I could go on and on!!!! Maybe I will....There just might be more to come!! =D

Let's Age Gracefully Ladies!

Yes, that's my title....'Let's Age Gracefully Ladies'.

What is worse than seeing a 'mature' lady walking down the street, trying her hardest to look like a teenager? Something just doesn't add up, does it? You get embarrassed for them and want to discreetly take them by the hand and very nicely let them know their really not pulling off the 'look'....

I have used the analogy of a flower when discussing this subject. The flower goes through all states of development much like a female. It has a bud stage, and then it goes through the height of its color, then to the fading stage before it one day dies.

There comes a time when the 'bloom is off the rose', however, when you stop trying to capture what is gone, and live and love the new season of your life, you will be so much happier!! My delight is not looking in mirror, but now it's seeing my beautiful daughter walk in the room, in the 'height of her color'.

I say, take the botox, take the articles on looking 'ten years younger, take the 'obsessed with myself' mentality, ....take it all and throw it under the nearest bus!! Deal with it! Stop spending thousands of dollars trying to turn back the clock! Enjoy every season....and spend more time with what's on the inside instead of the outside.

Aging steals, your physical beauty If that's, all you have to show So you better have, a deeper beauty That's everlasting, this I know, Time, can be so cruel And the years, can take a mighty toll Wrinkles, sagging, and all such Been the same, since times of old, You can, spend a fortune But the aging, will go through It's something, you can't stop Going on, inside of you, So develop, your inner beauty And don't neglect, the outer too Cause both of them, together Make up, what God, has made of you.

The Great Falling Away

I woke up this morning with this on my mind.

I have heard all my life that there would be a ‘great falling away’. Scripture refers to it…"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first..." 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

I know of many people that are ‘falling away’. Good people. People that I have enjoyed friendships with. People that I have loved, and dearly love to this day. People that have sat in the same pews as me and worshipped in the same church as me. Many have lead in the worship experience, many have been in the ministry, and many have been raised in the ministry. These good people are simply ‘falling away’.

This term ‘falling away’ or ‘apostasy’ means; to depart from revealed truth, to lead away, seduce, mislead; to defect, to blind the eyes of the people by manipulating the truth. It's a walking away from the truth that you've once known in favor of something else. ….(In Matthew 24, verses 4-12, the Lord specifically warns about this time.)

One of the things that most disturbs me, is no one appears to have any fear of the Lord, or even of Hell any longer….(that hard stance is surely politically incorrect and ‘uneducated’). Although the Word of God clearly tells us that millions of those who claim to be Christian will stand before God and be quite surprised when they hear, “Away from Me, I never knew you.” Though they will tell him of all the great and wonderful things they did in His Name, He will still say ‘I never knew you’.

I ask myself, “How can this be?”….I am sure that there are many factors, but can one be that they have allowed things into their lives that has desensitized them? Did they open their selves up to television, media, internet, ‘higher’ learning,…and now they can no longer discern right from wrong - Holy from unholy - The pure from the profane?

The spirit of this world is ‘the old ways/paths are archaic - we need change.’ There are so many spiritual and political parallels that I see. Obama’s campaign mantra was ‘CHANGE’. ‘There is a new and better way to do this.’… Now the White House sports shirtsleeves, bare arms, and have replaced the once ‘Sacred’ Office, with an informal, laid-back posture - where EVERYTHING is accepted. Can you see the parallels??

We have seen young couples marry, and after the parents in all faith and trust give their daughters hand over in marriage, the young man all of the sudden has a ‘new and better’ way, and pulls the young new wife (who was lovingly been raised in the ‘old paths’) into the web of deception and apostasy (‘Change’). Oh the sorrow that this has brought the parents, it is one that I cannot even imagine. My husband has described the actions of this young man as the highest form of ‘treason’, and has gone so far as saying that when he marries our daughter, he is adding vows in the marriage ceremony that vow the young man to keep the sacred beliefs that we lovingly and fearfully raised our daughter in.

Oh what a time we are living in. It makes me want to embrace the truth harder and more intensely to my heart than I ever have before. I desire more than ever to love what God loves and hate what God hates. I pray for discernment, so that I can discern right from wrong, holy from unholy, and the pure from the profane. I will ALWAYS have accountability in my life. I will NEVER do away with Elders in my life. They are my balance. I NEED them in my life. I pray that I will not only have a love for God in my heart, but always a healthy fear of God in my heart.

If you are reading this and if any part describes you, - go back. You are not enlightened, just the opposite…you have been blinded. Find that real Man of God in your life and come home. The Prodigal did, and what a homecoming that was!

Why is my love for them so deep and my bond with them so strong??

I've heard it said that in any given congregation,

20% of the members are the 'workers', or the

'movers and shakers' so to speak--while the

rest enjoy the benefits. I have never sat down

and proven or disproven that statistic in our local

assembly...I'll leave all that stuff up to God! As a

pastors wife, I find a way to love them all...but I've

got to say that some just make it SO easy!!!! Tonight

was one of those nights when I looked around and my

heart burst with gratefulness and love.

It is the beginning of our cherry season, which in other

words, it's the beginning of our 'sacrificial season'. Precious

saints that work all week, reserve 4-6 of their weekends

*in a row* for one thing...to work for God's Kingdom.

***Asking nothing in return.***

Tonight I was so touched when I saw each of them coming

in after a long hot day of cherry selling. They unloaded their

trucks, and then moved into the sanctuary for our weekly

all church hour of prayer. My heart burst with pride and love

and gratefulness. These faithful saints are heroes in my eyes.

They are the ones who make FMT shine. They are the ones

that make FMT what it is.

Thank you Lord for giving us these precious, faithful saints...

And now you know why my love for them is SO deep and my

bond with them SO strong!!!! =D