November 17, 2007 ~ Weekly Update #9

November 17, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving…

This coming week is a time that we are to give thanks for all that we have. It’s not always easy to be thankful in everything, but the word of God tells us to do just that. (1 Thessalonians 5:18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.)

Many of you have entered into a time of crisis in the last week or two; if not with health, then financially or with family relationships.

My heart breaks with you and for you. I don’t think I can remember back to a time where so many of my very close friends and family members were all facing such serious battles at one time.

As this week continued I found myself becoming more and more frustrated with each passing day. Finally, I decided that I needed some serious time in prayer with God.

If you are facing a crisis of your own and you don’t know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Please know that you have a choice… You can choose to receive the goodness that God has to offer you and allow Him to go thru this with you. Or, you can choose to continue on your own and go it alone, life doesn’t instantly become wonderful with Christ, but you will have the promise of no longer being alone. (John 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.)

Believe me, take it from one who knows, with Jesus Christ in your life it is much easier to face the ups and downs of life.

This week it felt like the earth shook loose beneath my feet. In trying to put together this weekly update I jotted down the scripture Psalm 46. I didn’t think anything more of it until I spoke with Pastor David on Friday and that was the scripture he chose to share with me.

Let’s back up to last weekend, the wonderful ‘event’. It was a tremendous success, you can see from the pic’s the enormous amount of donations given for the yard sale. Most of you won’t know who the volunteers were and who the shoppers were but we were blessed with a great number of both.

Hundred’s of people showed up to shop and over 100 joined us for lunch with the price being a donation of any size. There was approximately $2,400.00 raised and all the praise and glory for this goes to our Lord and Savior.

Thank you, thank you, and thank you to all who participated with either donation of your time or donating your items!

I was thrilled that God had given me the strength to make it to church on Sunday so that I could give Him praise and glory for what He had allowed the day before. I knew that just as soon as church was over I would go to bed and pretty much stay there all week.

All that changed on Monday when Jeralynn (my very close, dear friend and neighbor) became sick with stroke like symptoms. When I received the phone call Monday from Stephen letting me what had happened to Jeralynn, I felt like my world dropped out from underneath me. My friend who was jumping up and down in front of the church congregation on Sunday morning because Pastor Ron had given her a fruit cake (go figure), is now at times needing to really focus just to speak.

WHY??? God… she can’t stay like this the rest of her life!!! I want my friend back… We were pray partners, we were mommy partners, and since I didn’t always make it to church we would study the Bible at home together, she was my life line. She would hold me accountable and I would do the same with her.

My thoughts immediately went to the yard sale; it was primarily done for my benefit. Jeralynn was the driving force behind the yard sale and I just knew what happened to Jeralynn was my fault.

(As a side note, I did get to speak with Jeralynn’s neurosurgeon; he reassured me that her work at the yard sale had nothing to do with what has happened to her).

I had no idea how I have come to depend on Jeralynn in this past year. She would make my phone calls, appointments, pick up my prescriptions, groceries, and take me to doctor appointments and tests. She was the only one who really knew how much I had begun to lose my ability to function this past year, she was my confidant.

As for me, I had gone into panic mode, I wasn’t sure if I could tie my shoes without the help of my friend Jeralynn. That’s when Pastor David reminded me of Psalm 46; by the way, this is what I have been reading to Jeralynn whenever I have had the chance.

Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.

5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.

6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8 Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth.

9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.

10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

What I have learned this week is that Jeralynn is not my strength, God is! This week has certainly come full circle; God is my refuge and my strength, my ever present help in times of trouble.

So back to being thankful… Thank you God for never leaving me or forsaking me, for this I can be sure of. Also for the generosity of those this past weekend who gave of their time, donated items and shopped giving of their money. Thank you for the love of so many of my family and friends. I also give thanks for allowing us to live in a country where we are free to come together to worship God as we please. Thank you God for the health of my daughter, son, and grandson, I’m thankful for the fact that we have a roof over our heads and that we are not living on the street.

I have not been walking around this past week looking for things to give thanks to God for. Instead I have been walking around disgruntled, and I have been the one who has lost out. God doesn’t call us to be thankful only when things are going great, but to give thanks in everything.
You may be looking at your circumstance and think there is not much to say thank you for, take the time to look around and find the blessings God has given you. I don’t think any of you receiving this update live in Georgia, be grateful for the water that freely pours from your faucets at home.

And now, on to some news about me…

I received the results from the ENG, the test which can cause you to become very dizzy. Drum roll please…

The results showed that something is definitely wrong, for this I do give God thanks! I give Him thanks because I now know that it is real; this versus the option of it all having been stress related (or physiological).

At this point it does appear that this is a new diagnosis. This means that at this time it can not (you read correctly), can not be counted toward my being disabled. In the next couple weeks I will be going in for additional tests. These additional tests may or may not show something, without going into a great amount of detail I would ask that you continue to pray that God will give my doctors and those reading the tests wisdom.

It does appear that the dizziness, falling, dropping things, forgetting to do things, migraines, and tingling & numbness on my face will be a new normal for me. If you have had a conversation with me lately, you may have noticed that I have asked for assistance when trying to think of a word or that I may have forgotten mid-sentence what I was going to say, this also is part of my new normal.

I do have a specific prayer request for this week, if you wouldn’t mind. I have lost my driver, Jeralynn.

Please pray that God will allow medical authorization to go thru quickly so that I can have a driver for to and from appointments. And that meanwhile it will work out that someone else can begin to take me.

Both Jennie and Ricky are working 40 plus hours each week right now and aren’t usually home during my appointment times otherwise they would be doing this for me.

By the way, Jeralynn did very kindly volunteer Stephen to take her place; I wish you all could have been there to see the look on Stephen’s face. For those of you at GHCC (church) you know Stephen is really quite cooperative when it comes to Jeralynn asking him to do things that are out of the ordinary, but this really crossed the line. It was really quite amusing to watch Stephen not respond to Jeralynn, how shall I put this? Stephen was not amused. (For those who don’t know, Stephen is her husband, he is a teacher and is on break right know)

I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Love and prayers to you all,

Diana