Hippopotamus for Christmas!

Perhaps you have seen and heard the U.S. Postal Service’s cute advertisement about the little girl who obviously has asked for a hippopotamus for Christmas. The catchy tune plays over and over in the background. Her parents have looked and researched for one online and it is delivered just in time for Christmas by the USPS. Then on Christmas morning she opens it up, is excited but…out of the corner of her eye she sees through her window a deer in her snow-covered yard and reaches toward the window longingly. Her parents notice her longing and their happy faces become crest-fallen knowing another “want” has just been created!

Such is the dilemma of our commercial driven culture. We are not satisfied. Madison Avenue, Hallmark, Target, Toys R Us and a host of others know just which buttons to push to get us to “want” other stuff.

However, that is not my drumbeat today!

The tune, “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” is catchy and I find it goes round and round in my head during the day – not “Silent Night” or “Joy to the World” but “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”! (At least I have learned to spell it!) And I bet that just reading this makes the tune start in your head!!

Well…one morning as I was reading my Bible my eye was caught by a note in the margins with the word “hippopotamus”. Was a hippopotamus mentioned in the Bible?! Yes. The word actually is “behemoth”. But it means hippopotamus.

How’s that for Biblical trivia?!

Just an extra gift to you at this wonderful time of year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Check out my post on Beliefnet!

And have a great day with your family – or not. Some families are torn apart, some are mourning, some are alone, some don’t have enough to celebrate with, some are ill.

Hallmark makes us think that everything is supposed to look perfect, the family are all best friends and cannot wait to be together, they all agree politically… It’s fantasy. Pure fantasy.

Life is real.

Home!

Yes. I am home. And so glad to be so. Just to get a hot shower, wash my hair and be in my own bed was such a blessing.

I first went into the hospital on September 9th – and here it is Halloween! Good grief! I’ve lost so much time. Never in my wildest imagination did I think all this would happen. As a matter of fact, when I first met with my surgeon, I said something along the lines of, “Let’s pop this tumor out and get on with life.” I remembered his face! He smiled as if to say, “You naive woman.” How true.

You don’t just “pop” a tumor out of your spinal column!! There is bone to be cut and nerves to be manipulated and tissue to be cut… No. It didn’t “pop” out. I am wiser now. And so very grateful for a well-trained surgeon and his team. Not to mention the good hospital care and nurses, many of whom identified as believers. Such comfort to me. Like having family care for me.

My daughters were there at the beginning but had to go back home…and I assured them they couldn’t really do anything for me. While I would enjoy their presence, I couldn’t really be present myself due to the horrible headaches.

When it was time to go home – two weeks later – my lovely assistant, Krista, drove down to fetch me, feed me and take me home. My daughters arrived shortly and made sure I was well situated and then proceeded to tell me what I could and couldn’t do! They love bossing me! (I have decided they both have control issues!)

So…I begin the slow process of recovery and look forward to feeling better. Again, thank you for your prayers – it means so much to me to know that folks are praying for me.

All is well.

This morning as I read my Daily Light, I read, Lamentations 3:26, “It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait…” So this is a period of waiting quietly before God. But hopefully waiting. There is a difference. Just waiting can be discouraging and lead to defeat. But hopefully Then I read, II Chronicles 20:17, “Ye shall not need to fight in this battle…” That is something I need to learn. Not all battles are meant to fight. Choose well the battles and which hill to die on.

During this time I am reading, slowly, Mark Batterson’s, Chase the Lion. Excellent. I recommend it heartily.

Again, thanks for praying and caring.

Surgery – Again!

Well…we (I) had a hiccup after my surgery and on-going recovery. I developed a spinal fluid leak that put me flat on my back for many days then a second surgery.

I’ve actually lost track of time. I was flat on my back before I came to the hospital, headaches due to a spinal fluid leaks and more time on my back…on and on it went!

Not in my plans!

The headaches were debilitating. Blinding.

I wish I could say it was a deep spiritual experience. It wasn’t. I couldn’t read or write while flat on my back. I prayed but not as I expected. I felt guilty. Why couldn’t/didn’t I talk with the One who loves me so much? And can heal and comfort as none other.

I don’t know how to answer that. It’s as if I went into an ozone. So what does that mean? I asked myself a lot of questions. Like, ‘Did I really love the Lord?”, “Was I even saved?”. “Is He #1, my priority?”

I had just been lazy. Or had I? God is gracious and let me know He understands severe pain is distracting. He doesn’t judge me for my neglect because I was preoccupied with pain and trying to understand why my back wasn’t healing as I expected. Several times He did it in a special way.

One night had been very difficult but I was encouraged by my nurse who identified herself as a believer. She prayed over me. In the morning I turned on Fox and Friends at the end of their program. They had Chris Tomlin on and he sang, “You’re a good, good Father.” Why would a secular news program have him sing that song? And what are the chances I’d turn it on to hear it? It went straight to my heart. God was assuring me He is taking good care of me. He is aware of my medical setbacks. He is seeing me through it.

I’m still in the hospital but hope to go home tomorrow. My 13th day for this trip – 17 days total. No. This wasn’t in my plans but God knew about it and took care of me. I can trust His plans! And He is faithful.

Today’s Health Care

Well, I am 2.5 weeks out of surgery, back home, healing well and even doing exercise! I am weak…need to build strength.

Three weeks ago the doctors removed  benign cyst from my lower spinal canal – called a “L5 laminectomy and resection of intramural schawnnoma”.

Afterward, I did have a spinal fluid leak – not fun. Had to lay flat for 3 days. Then they suspected a blood clot but nothing came of it. They told me perhaps I had an “angry nerve” – not sure what that meant or why it got angry 5 days after the fact. The doctor told me nerves were moved and displaced by the removal of the cyst (the size of a man’s thumb). But I still couldn’t get hold of the low-grade fever that showed up each evening with chills and aches.

In all of this, I never talked directly to my doctor – only through others.

Finally, my PCP ordered a urinalysis. Ah ha! I had a raging UTI.

Now I am on the mend and eager to get on with life! The PT and OT come regularly to put me through my paces and I try to supplement their time with my own efforts. I do have a low back pain and my biggest concern is strength – I’ve lost so much in such a short time.

My children were and are terrific.  The girls were/are wonderful. Both had fun teasing me and threatening to “blackmail” me with photographs taken when I was asleep! but they drove back and forth to Richmond granting my every wish. Graham doesn’t like hospital settings but he was at home putting in a new higher level toilet in and a light over my bed. He’s a whiz at doing those sort of things.

My hospital experience reflected our new health care system. Impersonal. Ugly.  Many were insensitive and inexperienced. (Not my grandfather’s hospital.) Finally, I told them they could not do what they were suggesting. The nurse’s eyes got big but she knew I’d had enough! It took me days to get over just the ineptness of the hospital staff.

Anyway, as I said, I think it reflects the changes in medical care.

My doctor was wonderful and skilled. I am grateful for him and so far, Medicare is covering it all. So I am thankful and appreciative.

We still have the best medical care in the world in this country.

It will be 6-9 months before we will know how well the surgery worked – when you mess around with nerves it takes time for them to settle down. I’m on my way!!

When I wrote last, I said I was in God’s hands. I trusted that fact and was reassured. He kept me safe. The morning of the surgery, I read , I the God of Israel will not forsake thee.” (Ps. 8:10)  and “When I said My foot slippeth; Thy mercy O Lord, held me up.” (Ps. 94.18)

One night I was in so much pain I just leaned against the wall, imagining the Lord was holding me in His arms, and I told Him, “Father I am your daughter. I need your help.” And He came to my relief. His promises are true – they can be trusted. “I cried to Thee for help, and Thou dids’t heal me.” (Ps. 30: 2) That does not mean every time He helps as we want and expect – a subject for another blog!

Thank you for your prayers, notes and concerns. God bless you!

 

Surgery!

In the morning, before God gets up, I head to the hospital for back surgery. (No, I know God doesn’t sleep – it’s just an expression.) I know I have a kind, gifted surgeon. I know the hospital is excellent. My children will be with me and they will make sure I am taken care of well – Noelle is  a nurse and Windsor has more experience than most nurses after caring of her youngest son all these years. I have been prayed over by many dear friends.

My laundry is done. The silver is polished. Advance Directive is signed and in my suitcase – just in case. There are homemade soups in the freezer and there is always tuns in a can! I’m ready! But more than anything, I know I’m in God’s hands.

Many ask and assume I am afraid. I can honestly say, I am not. Of course, going into any unknown situation makes one a bit anxious. The doctor is going to take out a large benign cyst that is harbored in my lower spinal canal. Bone will be cut and perhaps nerves moved around in order to get it out. As my Mother used to say, “You take care of the possible an leave the impossible to God.” That’s what I am doing.

I may be being naive… I’ve never had a bad surgical experience and do not anticipate one now. I dread the recovery. There will be pain. And I am “damned” (and I use that word accurately) independent. I will not like my wings being clipped! It will be a 4-6 week recovery. I have to be careful and ask for help – which is hard for me.

But it will be a new learning experience and I know God is going  to give me the grace I need.

Once I can get back to my computer, I will let you know how I am doing. Please pray for me, if you think of it!

And pray for my paraolympian friend – she is in Rio and running this weekend. Liz Willis.

Olympic Aftermath – Paralympics

I enjoyed the Olympics – not hour after hour but, the highlights. I especially like the personal interest stories about the athletes. But, my goodness, they seem to get younger and younger with each Olympics; or more likely, I’m just getting older!

I admire the young athletes – their disciple and focus. I am encouraged by their dedication and the joy on their faces. It gives me hope that not all young people are protesting or looting or wrecking their future with drugs and sex. These kids are focused. And hopefully, they won’t get sidetracked by fame or wealth that may come their way. It can be heady stuff and easily divert a young person. It almost did Michael Phelps but he was able to get back on track.

My pastor’s daughter is in the Paralympics starting in Rio, September 11th. She will run the 100, 200, 400 meter races. Her name is Liz Willis. We are all so proud of her. In 2010 she gave birth to her son but contracted a very rare blood disorder and her leg had to amputated below the knee.

She showed incredible courage and resilience  – as did her parents. She rose above the situation, didn’t yield to self-pity. She didn’t lose faith through the struggle, her marriage survived and she is stronger now than ever. Her son is as cute as a bug and her husband is supportive and steady. She has worked so hard to be where she is and has a sweet testimony of the faithfulness of God.

Her training has been intense and she’s gotten the skills and speed to show for it. She is admired by all who know her journey.

It happened at the same time her leg was amputated that I knew a man in a horrific car accident. He lost his left arm. But he lost much more than that. He lost courage, faith, perseverance and pride. Now he hides from life and people. His self-worth was all wrapped up in his image – an amputated left arm didn’t fit the image he wanted to portray. It is really sad. But he made his choice. Maybe one day he’ll try to redeem what he lost.

Pray for my pastor’s daughter, Liz Willis, and watch her run like the wind! NBC will broadcast some of those games.

 

 

Radical Islam

This is an excellent explanation of the Muslim terrorist situation I have ever read. His references to past history are accurate and clear. Not long, easy to understand, and well worth the read. It was sent to me…take the time to read it.

The author of this email is Dr Emanuel Tanya, a well-known and well-respected psychiatrist. A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

‘Very few people were true Nazis,’ he said, ‘but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come.’ My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.

‘We are told again and again by ‘experts’ and ‘talking heads’ that Islam is a religion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace.

‘Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectre of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.

‘The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide.

‘It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honour-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.

‘The hard quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the ‘silent majority,’ is cowed and extraneous.

‘Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.

‘China ‘s huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.

‘The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.

And who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery? Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were ‘peace loving?

‘History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt. Yet for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our Enemy if they don’t speak up. Like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them and the end of their world will have begun.

‘Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.

‘Now Islamic prayers have been introduced in Toronto and other public schools in Ontario, and, yes, in Ottawa, too, while the Lord’s Prayer was removed (due to being so offensive? The Islamic way may be peaceful for the time being in our country until the fanatics move in.

‘In Australia, and indeed in many countries around the world, many of the most commonly consumed food items have the halal emblem on them. Just look at the back of some of the most popular chocolate bars, and at other food items in your local supermarket. Food on aircraft have the halal emblem just to appease the privileged minority who are now rapidly expanding within the nation’s shores.

‘In the U.K, the Muslim communities refuse to integrate and there are now dozens of “no-go” zones within major cities across the country that the police force dare not intrude upon. Sharia law prevails there, because the Muslim community in those areas refuse to acknowledge British law.

‘As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts – the fanatics who threaten our way of life.’

One Great Speech

My dear aunt from Dallas posted this on Facebook. I think it is excellent! And on the 4th of July may well get back to basic American principles.

This is a Speech Every American High School Principal Should Give.
By Dennis Prager: (Let’s remember his name – he’s got it right!)

To the students and faculty of our high school:

I am your new principal, and honored to be so. There is no greater calling than to teach young people.

I would like to apprise you of some important changes coming to our school. I am making these changes because I am convinced that most of the ideas that have dominated public education in America have worked against you, against your teachers and against our country.

First ,this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity. I could not care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow or white. I could not care less if your origins are African, Latin American, Asian or European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower or on slave ships. The only identity I care about, the only one this school will recognize, is your individual identity — your character, your scholarship, your humanity. And the only national identity this school will care about is American.

This is an American public school, and American public schools were created to make better Americans. If you wish to affirm an ethnic, racial or religious identity through school, you will have to go elsewhere. We will end all ethnicity, race and non-American nationality-based celebrations. They undermine the motto of America , one of its three central values — E pluribus Unum, “from many, one.” And this school will be guided by America ‘s values. This includes all after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs that divide students based on any identities. This includes race, language, religion, sexual orientation or whatever else may become in vogue in a society divided by political correctness.

Your clubs will be based on interests and passions, not blood, ethnic, racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just cultivate narcissism — an unhealthy preoccupation with the self — while the purpose of education is to get you to think beyond yourself. So we will have clubs that transport you to the wonders and glories of art, music, astronomy, languages you do not already speak, carpentry and more. If the only extracurricular activities you can imagine being interested in are those based on ethnic, racial or sexual identity, that means that little outside of yourself really interests you.

Second , I am uninterested in whether English is your native language. My only interest in terms of language is that you leave this school speaking and writing English as fluently as possible. The English language has united America ‘s citizens for over 200 years, and it will unite us at this school. It is one of the indispensable reasons this country of immigrants has always come to be one country. And if you leave this school without excellent English language skills, I would be remiss in my duty to ensure that you will be prepared to successfully compete in the American job market. We will learn other languages here — it is deplorable that most Americans only speak English — but if you want classes taught in your native language rather than in English, this is not your school.

Third , because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor , everything in this school will reflect learning’s elevated status. This means, among other things, that you and your teachers will dress accordingly. Many people in our society dress more formally for Hollywood events than for church or school. These people have their priorities backward. Therefore, there will be a formal dress code at this school.

Fourth , no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this school’s property — whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic events. If you can’t speak without using the f -word, you can’t speak. By obscene language I mean the words banned by the Federal Communications Commission, plus epithets such as “Nigger,” even when used by one black student to address another black, or “bitch,” even when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend. It is my intent that by the time you leave this school, you will be among the few your age to instinctively distinguish between the elevated and the degraded, the holy and the obscene.

Fifth , we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school, self-esteem will be attained in only one way — the way people attained it until decided otherwise a generation ago — by earning it. One immediate consequence is that there will be one valedictorian, not eight.

Sixth , and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and away from politics and propaganda. No more time will be devoted to scaring you about smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual harassment or global warming. No more semesters will be devoted to condom wearing and teaching you to regard sexual relations as only or primarily a health issue… There will be no more attempts to convince you that you are a victim because you are not white, or not male, or not heterosexual or not Christian. We will have failed if any one of you graduates this school and does not consider him or herself inordinately fortunate — to be alive and to be an American.

Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country. As many of you do not know the words, your teachers will hand them out to you..

“Governments first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.”

Ronald Reagan

Chicken Little

Do you remember the story of Chicken Little? He was walking in the barnyard and an acorn hit him on his head. He thought the sky was falling and ran around telling everyone, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!”  He got everyone into a panic.

It seems everyone from political candidates, to legislators, to preachers, to neighbors are saying the “Sky is falling!”. And I probably have echoed that thought myself. Things seem to be getting bleak. Right is wrong. Wrong is right. Everything is upside down.

But if something fell out of the sky and hit us on the head as it did Chicken Little would we not look up to see where it came from? We’d want to know more about the situation. If for no other reason but curiosity. And it might be good to look to see how I might protect myself and those I love.

While in a devastating (“the famine was server in all the earth”) famine, Jacob and his sons wondered what to do about it – trying to make a plan. Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?…I have heard there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us…so that we might live and not die.”

These days we seem to stare at one another (or the TV) – looking for a solution.

Well, it might be good to look up! Psalms 121 says, “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from whence shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”  Isaiah 45:22 says, “Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God and there is no other.” The prophet Micah wrote, “But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy (anxiety, fear). Though I fall I will rise; though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me.”
“God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
Therefore will we not fear, though the earth should change, And though the mountains be shaken into the heart of the seas Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, Though the mountains tremble with the swelling thereof.” (Psalms 46:1-22)

Yes, look up and see the mighty, sovereign, loving God sitting on His throne. He’s got it all under control.