Psalm 18:1-3:
“I will love You, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies. ”
Thankful today that 5 years ago today, the Lord gloriously invaded my world and revealed Himself to me as I had never known. He is an awesome God, my Rock, my strength. Praise Him!
Note: I am reposting below a blog entry I did a while back because it’s been on my mind with yesterday being April 19th. I always remember this date because of what happened in 1995, but also because in 2002, on April 19th, my mom and step-dad were in a terrible highway accident. A lady pulled through the median into them in traffic. They were pinned in the car until they could be cut out, and my step-dad was airlifted to a Memphis hospital with a fractured neck and spent 8 weeks with a metal halo drilled in his head! So each year, I have many reasons to praise God for His protection and care for us in these things!
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April 19, 1995. I remember the date clearly because it was the same day as the Oklahoma City bombing. I was working as a legal assistant in Dallas for a small law firm. I was driving over to Tyler, Texas to pick up the record on appeal for a case on which we were working.
There was supposed to be bad weather, so the one attorney suggested I not go. The others didn’t think it would be bad, so I went ahead. As I entered the highway, my car slid out of control because of the wet ground. Thankfully, I didn’t hit anything, but it made me a little nervous about the travel ahead. The radio was, of course, on, and a song by Twila Paris was playing, “God is in Control.” “God is in control, we believe that His people will not be forsaken, God is in control, we will choose to remember and never be shaken, there is no power above or beside Him, we know, God is in control.”
The song gave me comfort and I chose to believe that He was in control of my travel that day. I went on, and as I did, it turned into the most beautiful and sunny day! Well, this wasn’t bad at all, I thought. But as I drove, after I would pass a town, a short time later, the radio announcer would say, “The tornado is now in X.” And X was whatever town I had just passed. But I wasn’t worried because it was so sunny and pretty now. Surely those towns were pretty big, and so the likelihood I would encounter anything on the way back seemed remote to me, I reasoned.
I ran into the Court of Appeals and got the record. As I started to head back to Dallas, I thought again about the storm, but went ahead. As I drove, it didn’t really occur to me that there were no other cars on the road; the highway was empty. But they obviously had heeded the warnings. I have never before encountered what I did that day. It literally went from blue and sunny to black, heavy rain, hail, and a total inability to see — literally, it seemed in one second flat. There was no transition from light to heavy rain — it just went light to dark in an instant, and I had zero visibility for the darkness, the torrential rain, and the softball size hail hitting the car!
I didn’t know what to do. The last thing I had seen was that there was an exit ramp just shortly ahead, but I couldn’t even see to drive. I inched along. Suddenly all the glass started breaking on the car, the back window blew in, I was covered in glass, rain and hail, and the car was flooding. I did the only thing I knew to do. I was screaming to God to help me. All I know is that my panic turned to peace as soon as I heard a song coming in from the radio. Yes, once again, Twila Paris, “God is in Control.” “God is in control, we believe that His people will not be forsaken. God is in control. We will choose to remember and never be shaken. There is no power above or beside Him, we know. God is in control.”
I clung to those words. There is no power above Him. He was right there with me. I remember the rain moving on enough that I could see to exit, and oddly, I still remember driving my car in a complete circle, so shaken, so unsure where to turn, which direction, that I literally held the wheel and kept going around in a circle. I saw a driveway and entered. It was a local country club. I went inside, and they were shocked that I had been caught out in that storm. They all testified, “We’ve never seen anything like it. We can’t believe you were caught in it!”
I was drenched and upset. They then said, “You need to get under the pool table with the others because it’s not over. The tornado hasn’t passed yet.” I decided not to do so as I couldn’t expect anymore could possibly happen. The men, who earlier had been out golfing, stood by the back windows and watched the tornado pass.
A nice lady followed me back to Dallas in my demolished car. It took several years for me not to shake all over when a storm would come up. I remember getting back to Dallas and hearing about the Oklahoma City bombing that day. I trust God was near to those and revealing Himself to them in their time of need, accomplishing His purposes in the midst of great tragedy.
Praise You, Lord, that You are the Sovereign Lord who controls all things and is all powerful. Thank You for Your protection in the midst of life’s storms and for making Your presence known when fear was threatening me. You are so worthy of all our trust!
My daughter has updated my blog to give me a background. She has insisted for a while that I need it, so I let her take control! It’s funny to me that she knows how to do this by herself, and I like what she chose!
I recognize this is a simple acknowledgment of thankfulness, but I feel it nonetheless and want to say it: I am thankful for 2 good dental checkups for my children today! I always dread the dentist, and my son has had some cavities in the past on 2 baby teeth, and I always am nervous how well they are brushing. So it is with a thankful heart that I received word of how great their teeth look, how good their bite is, how unlikely it is they will need braces, etc. I know this can seem like such a small item to give thanks for, but I want my heart to always be having a back and forth of thankfulness to God and rejoice in even small things. I don’t do that all the time, but this one struck me to do so, so I am!
I also am thankful for the school my children attend. As we are having some strategic planning sessions and prayer times simultaneously this month, my heart is reminded of the wonderful things God has done to bring this school into existence and the amazing things we see as we continue down this path. I pray He will always use it for His glory and eternal purposes and cause those who attend it to love Him and serve Him faithfully all of their lives. I pray for His perfect will and His continued leading. He has shown Himself so much to me in this endeavor, and I am thankful.
I would like to spend the next 24 hours or so really reflecting on things that I should be thankful for and seeing reasons to give thanks at every point in my day. I rarely am this deliberate, but I do want to cultivate a mind fixed on God and praising Him, thanking Him, and rejoicing.
I Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
It’s hard to believe, but 17 years ago today, I married my high school sweetheart. Our first date was August 10, 1986. This means that we’ve really been dating or married for the last almost 24 years! That is definitely over half my life.
I remember this time in the spring and summer of 1993. We were married and moved to Dallas where my husband began seminary at Dallas Theological. His brother and his wife were also married that summer and moved off to Chicago, then Boston. His parents also moved that summer to take a position at a Christian college. His sister transferred colleges to attend the one where her parents were going. My husband’s family all scattered to different places, while my family remained in Memphis. It was a fun time for us to venture out on our own.
After 9 years, we finished my husband’s Th.M. (in Dallas) and Ph.D. (in Virginia) and ended up in Chicagoland where his whole family ultimately ended up, as well. We had all come full circle, just to a different location.
How fun, then, it is to be celebrating 17 years of marriage, while also today celebrating at a brunch the 17 years that my mother-in-law has served at this college. I reflect on the last 17 years with a heart of thankfulness to God for His leading in our lives, for His faithful provision, for His love and compassion, for His presence.
I am thankful for these many years together with my husband through so many things. We’ve already known the “for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health” seasons, and we’ve found God faithful in them all! God ultimately gets the praise and glory for calling us to Himself, then bringing us to one another, building a marriage and a family, and leading us in His ways.
The adventures continue, with new things happening even now, and I am thankful to share life with someone who loves God so much, who loves his family, who serves the students he teaches and the church we attend, who teaches and writes and lives with the glory of God in mind, and who does all things with great passion, hard work and discipline.
Now, if we had only had digital cameras back then, I could throw in a wedding picture! 🙂 We have changed a lot! This is the best I can do (I’m sure he’ll love this! Ha!):
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!
Well, I went to the dermatologist a couple of weeks ago for a place that had come up on my nose a few weeks prior to that. While he assured me it was not dangerous, he immediately wanted to freeze it off. I didn’t want to do that, so he said I could come back when I wanted to, but that in the meantime, it would keep growing.
I had been praying about it since I had first noticed it, so I decided I would just keep praying about it. I’ve had things like this happen before where a doctor tells me what I need, I opt to wait and pray, and things improve. I’ve seen miracles in my daughter’s life and mine physically (both big and small), and why then would I begin to underestimate God?
I know this was small, I know it seems inconsequential, I know freezing it would have worked out just as well. But I chose to wait and pray. After my last appointment, it did seem to change, and I got nervous, and decided the sooner I got rid of it the better. I made another appointment for today, but continued to pray that it might go away before the visit.
Well, last night, I rubbed a washcloth over my face, and it came right off, completely. I was so thankful. The doctor’s office told me this morning to still come in so he could be sure it was gone, and it was. When he saw it was gone, the doctor asked me, “What did you do?” I could only tell him the only thing I had done: pray! He said, “Well, if it comes back, pray again.”
So anyway, I just want to thank the Lord for this. I know it’s a smaller thing, it wasn’t anything serious, but it was just a small sweet blessing. I had had a rotten day yesterday, too, and was so sad last night, convicted of my ugly sin — and at all times for Him to be gracious to me — in the midst of such ugliness — it just seemed to show me a glimpse of His kindness, patience and mercy, His forgiveness and help when I feel helpless.
Now literally, since I have arrived home this afternoon from the visit, seriously, there is a place itching on my face. I just went and looked in the mirror and it’s some kind of spot! What in the world am I to make of that?! Well, at all times, and in all things, God is in control. He is good. He is worthy of our trust. I want to believe Him and know that He is able. Even when we have suffered physically in greater ways, God has always been near and made Himself known. For all these things, for who He is, for His power and love, I am thankful!
Praise Proclaimer 