Life Happens

Ironically, around the time I booked my flight to go to NY was the day my friend found out about her dad's cancer diagnosis. I was hemming and hawing about booking my trip and was having a pretty emotional morning - one minute laughing, the next tears running down my face - all because I was thinking of Mummy and what I would be facing in NY.

So she saw me crying that day and then when she heard the news regarding her Dad, the tables were flipped. We both thought it no coincidence that we were together for the bulk of that day.

Comfort those wherewith you have been comforted....these words keep coming back to me now.

I find myself looking at things through a new lens - a lens of greater empathy due to the loss of a parent; a lens of dealing with medical staff at this difficult time; a lens of trying to keep your wits about you when everything seems to be going wrong.

Comfort those....

I always feel inadequate yet I've been able to share just the tiniest bit of information that may be helpful. For example, you can appeal a discharge since when you are being discharged from a hospital it should be what is considered a safe discharge. That there are agencies and programs that exist so that you can get long-term care at home for elderly or ill parents. That taking care of a sick parent at home is not just a physical endeavor but an emotional one as well. That the social work team at a hospital is very important as they provide beneficial information outside of what is provided by medical staff.

Comfort those....

I may be in some sort of fog right now navigating my way out; but as I do, I'll remember that I'm not in this alone; that I'm not comfortless and even now I can help and encourage others.

He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 2 Corinthians 1:4 [NLT]

Do you need comfort? Are you making yourself available to comfort others?

Mornings With Children

It seems that no matter how much you plan, organize and strategize mornings with children can sometimes be chaotic. Since the Little One missed a week of school she has had to make up a boatload of schoolwork. (BTW, what's the point of missing school due to an excused absence and still having to make up all the work? Isn't that why it was excused?! rant over).

On Friday she found out that she had to do a project in a weekend that everyone in the class had at least two weeks to do. She decided that she would tackle this project and get it done. I don't know if you know, but 8th-grade work nowadays is not like when you and I were in school. They're expected to know how to use technology well and incorporate into their assignments.  She's done more PowerPoint's at 13 than I did at 20. What was a PowerPoint back then?! (Second rant over.) Of course, there's always the Mac vs PC argument, and this teacher wanted the assignment completed in Keynote which is the Mac version of PowerPoint. Well, we're not a Mac house, so that's that. Anyhow she does the Keynote part of the project on her phone very tediously and eventually gets frustrated. The first part was to write a 600-word report.

This morning she wakes up and realizes that there is a capability in PowerPoint to add a voice recording, so she attempts to complete the presentation this morning. Let me add the presentation was completed but part of the assignment was to record an interview as part of the presentation. (As I type this, this all seems a bit much for one weekend.) So she was going to record the interview this morning, This recording took at least 5 minutes. She did it once, she did it twice, she even attempted it a third time but it would not work. Each time she played back the presentation the recording was not included.

It is now 7:50 and we must leave because school starts at 8. She eats breakfast in the car as I drive to school.

She is so sad as she gets to school. She asks, "Why do I miss her so much?" She is just a mess and I pray with her and let her know that she can take her time. We hug for a while until she eventually regroups. She eventually gets out of the car, and I continue to pray as I make my way home.

Even without the specter of grief, mornings can be crazy. I know that she has to go through this and I'll do my best to continue to guide, support and comfort her. Sometimes in spite of our best efforts, things fall apart in the morning. Laundry is misplaced or worse no clean underwear; can't find a shoe or a book that's needed that day;  lunch is forgotten;  homework did not make it to the book bag. There's so much that can go wrong.

As a mother I've learned to take it easy, because unfortunately yelling or making empty threats just does not help....at all. Also, if I wake up early before all this mayhem, I'm better equipped to deal with it. Thankfully, this is not every day or even most days.

“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. Jeremiah 31:3[NLT]
I hope tomorrow brings a better morning.

Miserable Comforters - Don't Be One

Source

Job's three friends became miserable comforters.

"I have heard all this before. What miserable comforters you are!
Won’t you ever stop blowing hot air?
What makes you keep on talking?" Job 16:2[NLT]

Job's friends knew him, yet at the point of his greatest need in attempting to comfort him, their words became like swords that inflicted severe lacerations. After the first round when Job heard their arguments, but did not agree with them they became more vitriolic. It was almost as if they were upset that he still maintained his integrity - it was no longer about Job but about them.

First they wondered if he did something that would cause all of this calamity to fall on him. Remember Job was a righteous man - God and the Devil knew it, so the answer to their query was Job did nothing wrong. Job was not afraid to speak up in his defense; he knew he was a righteous man, but he questioned God because the degree of his suffering was incomprehensible to him.

Because Job never veered from his convictions - his friends went in harder. They called him names and accused him of many things (Job 15-21). They called him:

• Wicked
• A Windbag
• Pious
• Proud
• Stupid
• A sinner
• A maggot
• A worm

In spite of these harsh words Job continued to stand up for himself and was never cowed by his friend's words. A weaker person than Job may have taken some of these friends words to heart.

In chapter 16:2 he calls them miserable comforters and after the final round of speeches from his friends he wonders what has gotten in to them: "Where have you gotten all these wise sayings? Whose spirit speaks through you?" Job 26:4[NLT] (Go Job!!!)

All of Job's trials including the words of his friends were meant to make him turn his back on God, but Job was a man of integrity and stood his ground. In spite of his grief and his downed spirit he knew his friends were wrong, unkind and not very encouraging.

Sometimes when we are going through things, the very people that we think will comfort us with their words, don't. Sometimes pride gets in the way and the comforter can no longer empathize. Sometimes even without pride, it's hard to walk in another's shoes and really feel what they are feeling.  Sometimes we think our advice is so good we wonder why our hurting friend rejects it. Perhaps the time wasn't right - they just needed you to be there. They needed the gift of your presence, not the presence of your voice. Perhaps you were a miserable comforter to a hurting friend or you were the recipient of words that wounded more than helped. Let's learn from Job's friends - let's watch our words as we attempt to comfort our friends. Let's speak less and listen more. Let's be slow to rush to judgement.

The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense. Proverbs 27:9 [NLT]

What can you learn from Job's friends during his greatest need?

What a Wonderful Life

Source

Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World is one of my all time favorite songs. It just makes me so grateful for this thing called life even with all of its bumps and bruises.

Last night at the farmer's market, the air was balmy, families were out and about, vendors had the best food and fruits and in the midst of all this there was an artist singing her rendition of this song and it put me in an even more pleasant frame of mind. I had just completed a 3 mile run with a running group. My girlfriend and I did it together - it was a new experience for both of us that turned out pretty well.

Life has been wonderful of late even though I'm still job hunting and have been dealing with some things on the personal front.

I have dear friends in my life; really true and deep good friends and though they all  aren't physically close when we speak, I am refreshed. The friends that I call friends respect me and respect my faith to the point where I'm often asked to lift up needs in prayer. I don't mind this at all because there's an acknowledgement of something greater, and who knows what they've seen reflected in my life.

As a family we have been having quite a pleasant time of late. We're having more deep and fulfilling conversations, laughing more and even started walking together in the evenings.

So at the farmer's market last night, when I heard this song, I thought, What a Wonderful Life.  Things could be worse, they always can be, but right now it seems wonderful.

What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong

I see trees of green, red roses too

I see them bloom for me and you

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white

The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky

Are also on the faces of people going by

I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do

They're really saying I love you.

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow

They'll learn much more than I'll never know

And I think to myself what a wonderful world

Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Life is hard, but please choose to see the good in this wonderful world we live in. 

Have you ever heard this song? What's wonderful with you?

The Comforter

As a mother, some days my mornings are not as uneventful as I would like them to be. The last of the oldest children is travelling overseas, my husband is going through a stressful time at work and my parents are visiting.
This morning I read a passage of scripture that provided great comfort:

¹⁵If ye love me, keep my commandments.

 ¹⁶And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

 ¹⁷Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

 ¹⁸I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. John 14: 15-18

Do you know why we need comfort in this world? Because things happen; because our emotions can put  us in a tailspin; because our children grow up and we have to let them go; because we get the blahs; or we just get weighed down by all of our responsibilities.

If I listened to those who don't have this Comforter and what they do to be comforted, I'd come up short - there's not enough drinks, money, things, or food that can provide the comfort we need.

God is so good - He does not leave us comfortless. He was a man just like us when he walked this earth and had the same feelings many of us have. He knew we would need something supernatural and He provided it to us.

Thank you Lord for the gift of your Holy Spirit.

Do you have The Comforter?