It's Monday and WEIRD! :)

Sam looked at me last night and said “well tomorrow is going to be weird.” Which was strange because I was thinking the same thing! Typically on a Sunday evening the anxiety of getting chemo or the dread of him being in the hospital for a week would begin. Today is the first Monday in 12 WEEKS that we haven’t had to scurry around and get the kids to school/daycare and then off to chemo. The first week in 15 weeks he hasn’t had to go somewhere to be checked by somebody. The funny thing is it is “weird.” Your life is just going along and suddenly you are thrust into a whole different series of events. You catch your breath and adjust to cope and survive. When things start to get back on the brink of normal we find ourselves not knowing how to act and learning how to adjust. . . again.

I’ve heard many Christian authors, speakers, and pastors say our lives our either before a storm, in a storm or coming out of a storm. Sometimes those storms are just a rain shower and sometimes they are a tsunami. The past 6 months we’ve had our share of sprinkles, thunder storms and even a tsunami . . . . or two. The Bible says in 1 Peter 1:7 -These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. James 1:2-4 tells us to consider trials PURE JOY because the testing of our faith develops perseverance.

So where are you in life? Evaluation time:

If you’re not in a storm heads up it’s coming so be prepared! Get your armor on folks: Ephesians 6:10-18 –10) Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11) Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13) Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14) Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15) and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16) In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17) Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18) And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

If you are in a storm go to your knees and praise God! WHAT??? A dear friend (a Jesus girl) told me to do this when I shared the news with her about Sam. I think if it had been anyone else to tell me to do this I would have looked at them like they had 3 heads but I know this gal’s love for our Lord. She said, “Praise God! I know you don't know how to pray or what to do. So just get on your knees and praise your God. And then thank Him – found, most curable, skilled docs, modern meds. Praise God for what He is going to do. Praise Him for being the Healer. Turn on your music and praise. The enemy must flee. Pray for and over your husband. Over his mind, will and emotions. The enemy wants to kill, steal and destroy. Praising despite how you feel is powerful Beverly. Powerful. Just praise. You don't feel like it. But these next few days force yourself.” You know what? I did and it helped. I started thanking and praising God for fact the cancer was detected, CURABLE and for the doctors. When I was in shock and despair I got in my car and listened to music on a Christian radio station and sang along. Oh how your spirits are lifted when you worship. . . even if it’s in your car. Then she told me to get a word from the Lord. I was reading an online devotional that had this scripture, 2 Corinthians 1:10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On Him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us. The Lord had given me a word. It was 2 years and 7 days from the time Sam had his four-wheeler accident and brain injury until the time he was diagnosed with cancer. I remember after his accident when the doctors said he would need months and months of therapy to help regain his short term memory. The brain rehabilitation doctor told him to take the semester off from school. The fact is in 4 weeks after his accident he was back in college and made the dean’s list that semester! His recovery was termed “miraculous.” That’s our Jehovah Rapah friends! The LORD that heals you(Exodus 15:26). The Lord had delivered us from that injury and he would deliver us again. That is where we put our hope. Has the storm been tough? YES! There were still days that it was hard. Days I cried, worried and didn’t get sleep but I still had HOPE in the Lord. With HIS promise to deliver us. Don’t stay to long in the PIT!! Just start praising the Lord! Dig into scripture and ask the Lord for a word. The Lord who spoke to Moses will still speak to you today. Henry Blackaby in his Experiencing God study says, “God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes and His ways.”

If you are coming out of a storm ask yourself have you been transformed? Did this suffering transform you? If trials come so that your faith is refined like gold we as Christians must ask ourselves if we have allowed said trial to refine us. A friend recently spoke on praying through tough times and she said we can either get “bitter or better” when we are face to face with a storm. So true! We could wallow in a pit, get angry and ask the Lord why? I admit I did a bit of that at first. Even in my pit when I didn’t know how to pray the Holy Spirit was still there interceding for me on my behalf (Romans 8:26) Or we can get “better.” We can allow the storm to transform us by drawing us closer to him for HIS glory! We can let our faith be a witness to the lost around us and an encouragement to other Christians.

I’m not saying I’ve arrived and have all this storm stuff figured out. What I am saying is praise the Lord I’m more prepared. I’ll try my best to first praise God when the next storm comes before I get too far in the pit. I’ll seek guidance in the scriptures and ask the Lord for a word because He STILL speaks to us! Being out of the storm in reality is twofold. You are out but that puts you back at the beginning waiting for the next one to hit. That’s where I am . . . drying myself off . . . . .and putting my refined armor back on.