The signs surrounding us are on display,
they're created by nature or man.
What do they mean, what do they convey?
Do they deliver emotion or elicit a plan?
Do they give you relief or make you pause?
Do you halt at a standstill and wonder why?
Reasons will vary, you may not know the cause,
Every so often I just gaze and cry.
Not all the tears drive me to sorrow,
for there's still good on this Earth.
Many miss signs thinking of tomorrow,
the ones from God mean rebirth.
Seeing, observing, and being aware,
providence, planning, and saying a prayer.
K.L. Hale
Encouraged a few minutes ago by teacher, Martha Ann Kennedy, I wrote my first English sonnet. She said to be a writer, you must write. The last few Saturdays I visited local places and festivals (some with friends!). I must take advantage of good hours-to get out, walk, and SEE, not hide. I choose to move and hurt, rather than sit and hurt. Not always an easy thing to do! But there are many “signs” of why I must! Last Saturday, feeling led, I walked into a church by my house. The message was about Ruth. It encapsulated providence, planning, and prayer. Life may not turn out the way you expect. The first thing Pastor Craig Groeschel said was, “You’re not in your final chapter.” We can all write our life as a book with many chapters. Some you might want to leave out. Your story isn’t over. What is your plan, friend? Is your health bad? What are you going to do? Is your relationship in a struggle? What’s the plan? Do you need to have better habits? What are the steps? For many, we’re in a “zone”. You might be busy raising children or hours at work. What do you do when you’re alone? What do you do when all of that is gone? Take a deep breath and know you’re not alone. “Rest in me, my child,” Jesus says to me. Our works can become like devotion and we miss the signs. Maybe we need to put down the phone, go for a walk, smile at a neighbor, and remember to talk. Letting go of that which we can’t control, releasing it to my Savior, so I can grow.
Have you heard of NET, yet?🦓
Friends, the next two months will bring “excused” absences, tee hee. First, a bucket list trip (bubble-wrapped by friends). MANY appointments, another medical test, and preparations for a life-altering surgery. This last nearly year and 1/2 has seemed surreal. What is REAL is the love of God, family, and friends. Looking BACK I can see how I got to here. No, not the disease, but the utter and complete reliance on God.
Thank you to my virtual support group, and friends, from LACNETS.org (http://www.lacnets.org). For without them I wouldn’t have been referred to Dr. Jaydero Del Rivero, who then escalated me to Dr. Johnathan Hernandez. Several of us are going to have changed lives. The hours in pain improve my posture of perseverance (although it has TRIED to get me down—if you see the zebra shoes below, an elevator had opened when I was vulnerable after leaving the dr’s office, she stood there, my patient advocate, with open arms, wearing these shoes). God is working all around.
As for me, right now, my focus will stay on what matters most. I’m reserving every “ding” on my phone for a “Snap” of my grandkids or a message from family. Friends, do you know how loved you are? God loves you and so do I. The signs are all around.
Have faith 💚
For most of my life my faith has been blind. It just existed. I believed. Yet, I appreciate the cold hard facts and evidence. Jesus did too. He provided evidence. And I have experienced it. As shared in devotion by a former atheist, J. Warner Wallace, “I came to understand that the biblical definition of faith is a “well-placed and reasonable inference based on evidence.”