I knew my kids were having an effect on the world.....

But How Do I Do It?

Philippians 4:6 tells us to "not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests by made known to God."  (ESV)


Okay.  I understand that.


But how do I DO that?  Practically speaking, how do I just NOT be anxious?  It's not possible for me to spend my entire day on my knees in prayer and supplication every time I feel a twinge of worry.  I have three kids to home school, laundry to do, house to clean, food to cook, and so on....So what do I do?  Do I just try to be in an attitude of prayer and supplication all day during all these activities?  How do I let go of worry and anxiety?  What if I've told God my worries and requests over and over, and still see nothing happening to lessen them?  HOW do we have faith when we've asked for it time and again, and yet feel like our faith is weak?  I know that God is Sovereign.  I know that He is good.  I know that He is loving.  I DO trust Him.  I have to just cling to those facets of God and trust that things will work out for His good and loving plan.  Just writing this post has helped me somewhat as I've been thinking about God's Word and what it has to say about these things:


"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."  1 Thess. 5:18
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matt. 6:34
"And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his life?" Luke 12:25
"And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on."Luke 12:22
"Lord, I believe.  Help my unbelief."  Mark 9:24


So....being in an attitude of prayer, and meditating on Scripture both help.  Any other ideas?

I Changed My Banner....

...to a beautiful shot I found, again from Puerto Rico.  The picture is taken from up on El Yunque mountain, in the tropical rain forest, looking down toward the north coast and beach.  El Yunque was another place I loved going as a child.  The waterfalls, mists, enormous ferns, and cool towers to climb were all great, and then our family would usually take a picnic lunch and eat it in one of the shelters on the mountain.  Fond memories.

My Banner Picture....

....is a view of Old San Juan taken looking back from atop the walls of Castillo San Felipe del Morro, the fort that sits on the promontory overlooking the entrance to San Juan Harbor.  The fort was one of my favorite places to go during my childhood in Puerto Rico.  My college senior picture (in the Houghton College "Boulder") was taken of me sitting on the top level of El Morro.  When I was in high school our National Honor Society did a walk-a-thon from our school to the top level of the fort.  I can't remember now what the cause was.  I do remember the exhaustion we were experiencing, walking all day.  I think we walked about 12-15 miles.  When we got to the road leading up the long slope to the fort, several of us felt a new energy, and we ran the last bit up the road and then up the long ramp inside the fort to the top level where a pile of cannonballs sits,and climbed it, too.  It was exhilarating!

It Isn't Cancer!

The doctor called me this afternoon and told me that the cells from the biopsy are NOT cancerous!  Praise the Lord!  I'm so grateful for the sense of peace that I had for the past week!  I realize now that I was holding on to some stress about it since when the doctor said it was benign I let out a huge sigh of relief.  He said they will keep an eye on it, see what it does, and do another ultrasound in a year.  Meanwhile, I'll be having a sleep study in a few weeks and then discussing with both my primary care doctor and the ENT the idea of increasing my thyroid medication in order to surpress this nodule.  We'll see.

Still Waiting..

I called the doctor's office yesterday to get my biopsy results, to be told that the doctor is not in the office until Wednesday.  The nurse with whom I spoke said that she is not authorized to give me any information, even though she had my chart and the results right in front of her.  Supremely frustrating.  We are not actually in control of our medical care no matter how much hospitals and doctors talk about "patients rights."  I guess we won't be finding out anything until tomorrow.

Still Waiting for the Results

The Lord must be teaching me patience.  My doctor's office told me twice today that I would find out my biopsy results by this afternoon.  They never called.  Hmmm.......or is it Grrrrrrrr..........No, I'll wait patiently.

On Having Needles Stuck in my Neck

It wasn't really that bad.  They numbed my neck up with lidocaine and then took three fine-needle samples out of my thyroid nodule.  Now I have to wait until Friday at the earliest to find out what dear little Lumpy is doing in there.  So now we just play the waiting game....

On a "cool technology" note:  Candler Hospital just got some new ultrasonography machines on Monday.  The ultrasound technician, Denise, was having a blast using her new toy, which she said weighed 150 pounds LESS than the previous machine, which weighed 400 pounds.  They have to push these machines around the hospital sometimes, so the 150-pound weight loss is a blessing to the technicians.  I was teasing Denise that she was having just a bit too much fun looking at my potentially diseased thyroid.  She started to apologize and then realized I was joking.

Laughter is always good medicine.  Just look at Proverbs 15:13 and 15, and 17:2

Azaleas in Bloom....

Spring has finally really sprung here in Savannah.  We have gorgeous azaleas in our front garden, and a mommy duck has been bringing her eight ducklings to eat under our bird feeders.  The birds have discovered our bird-friendly back yard with its two seed feeders, suet block, and seed bell.  The only feeder that hasn't seen any action yet is the hummingbird feeder.  Or, more precisely, I haven't seen any hummingbirds at it yet.  That doesn't mean they haven't found it! Down at our pond, the parent turtles have been bringing the baby turtles out on shore to sun themselves.  If you get anywhere near them they all immediately sploosh back down into the pond.  They are really cute!

I love the re-birth of the trees and flowers, and the baby animals we've seen.  It's yet another reminder of God's power to bring life back to things that are dead and brown.  Even though the pollen which precipitates the gorgeous flowers and tree leaves is my mortal enemy, I still appreciate what it accomplishes.  Oh, and does anyone besides me think our Sago Palm is getting TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL?