"The Wait"

I'm typing as I sit in the "gowned waiting area" at the Methodist Hospital Breast Center. Trust me, gown is a loose term---real loose! Though one lady across from me seems to have on a deluxe model which actually has some oomph in the fabric and it actually covers her torso.

It's the waiting that is hard. My turn next.

Just a week ago I was at a different doctor for a biopsy and then came the real wait. Waiting for test results. Two days later a  "good" report was given. Today a different scenario but same need for waiting.

3D  screening complete. Doc will review. Please return to the waiting area. 

Just a month ago, my dear friend was in this place and a "wait" ensued after diagnosis of "biopsy needed" was given. Results showed cancer. More waiting as an MRI was ordered. Results showed more cancer on a different side. More waiting. Surgery needed. Doctors needed to coordinate their schedules. More waiting. Surgery schedule for 3 weeks later---therein was the real waiting. Surgery seemed successful with post-op positive indicators....BUT.....more waiting  needed for the official results.  

So what does one do while she waits. Pray. That's the easy answer, yet it's hard to do when one is right in the midst of the wait.  A wait filled with concern. A perfect time for intercessory prayer.

"Mrs. Liles." Diagnostic needed. Enter darkened room for further pictures.....two places on the left breast.  A least the "goop" is warm. 

Four years ago I had observed women in this situation in a  Waiting Room Angst blog entry.
As I wait in this dark place, it helped to go back and read it.

Ultrasound complete. Please wait in here until the doctor can review.

Renee returns. It's okay. Pretty sure it's a benign cyst.
You may go now....We'll just WAIT and watch.

Breakaway

Will post as soon as I can breakaway from the "tyranny of the urgent!"

10/3/15
Obviously the "tyranny of the urgent" never loosened its grip. Those said urgencies, great or small, have to be attended to----in this case, think family needs of the moment, (feeding, clothing, bathing, cleaning up vomit)

Distractions that need our attention taking us away from our intended goals. I was committed to getting this entry written in a timely manner. Now I don't even remember why I needed to breakaway.
I think I've done this before---or at least lost my original commitment to distraction. I know I did in September 27, 2014.

Maybe the month of September is more about urgencies getting in the way than breakaways occurring.

Tea With Thee aka PB&J

Thanks to Kristen T. for a *new perspective, encouraging me in searching Scripture (Acts:17:11) praying for me, praying with me and on Thursday serving me tea.

Times with the Lord for me are usually accompanied by a cup of tea. Location rarely varies. Times can vary. Accoutrements vary. (different tea blends, different Bible translations, different journal, different devotional books, different colored pens)

But.....Kristen *cuts to the chase with her simple PB & J. Sarah Young espouses the same simplicity, which she used when writing Jesus Calling.

P (pen) B (Bible) & J (journal) So simple. So palatable.

A daily P B & J----it's good for the soul. I'll take mine with a cup of tea, please. 

FERVENT

Fervency in one's prayer life is marked by great intensity, along with the ardor of a loving heart.
For me, nothing "ups" the fervency of prayer petitions like the needs of a loved one, especially when they are unable to pray for themselves. That's when Roman 12:12 returns to my prayer radar.

I pray that the suffering saint, undergoing a lengthy surgery, has the strength to be patient in the midst of intense pain with rehab to follow----a time of great affliction. Prayers that she and all of their family can count on the "hope within" to bring them joy.
I, and other prayer warriors, then can step up to the plate and fervently petition the God of the universe for mercy and the continuance of that goodness as He works out His plan on the loved one's behalf.

Be patient in affliction, joyful in hope, fervent in prayer. (Romans 12:12)

Fervent prayer! What a responsibility. What a privilege!

mIStake

BIG mIStake made by Sprite. The company now advertises with the "the world IS yours" quote.

But God's word says, "The earth's is the LORD'S and the fulness there of, the world and they that dwell therein. (Psalm 24:1)
Coca Cola's thinking is mISconstrued and a common mIStake in the world's thinking.

WAR ROOM

"War Room" is not a compartment in my mind but a movie with tiered seating at local theaters. Elnora and I went to see it on "our" day.

Otis Sanford's title of his recent Commercial Appeal article "Some Folks can Benefit From Seeing War Room" said it well. War Room, "a commercial film about repentance, forgiveness and devout Christianity speaks volumes about our deep desire for harmony and racial reconciliation at a time when both are sorely missing in our society." (O. Sanford) As the lights came up, Mr. Sanford spontaneously hugged total strangers sitting in front of him, & they hugged back----because as he stated, "it seemed the right thing to do."

Mr. Sanford hugged a stranger. I hugged Elnora---it seemed the right thing to do because regardless of our skin color, "we be family" as Ashley Bryan says.

War Room, a huggin' kind of movie for both family and strangers!

MELTDOWNS

How can one FINALLY sleep through the night, without a single sleep aid, wake up refreshed for the first time in recent memory and then.....have 3 meltdowns before 10am?

IMPOSSIBLE. It should be impossible for one seeking to serve the Lord.....but it's what happened.

It's also embarrassing. To make matters worse, as I printed off my grocery list and my "teaching" list, I lost them in the computer room as I was looking for another list. I sat and literally "cried" out to the LORD---the tearful kind of crying out.

Answering friend JoLynn's phone call, I acknowledged that I was heading out the door for the grocery (prep for said trip was a BIG part of meltdown #3) and that I was in such a pitiful state that I hoped I wouldn't have a meltdown on aisle 7. BTW---In "my" Kroger, aisle 7 is the "tea aisle."
Who knew? I didn't......but for sure it's a hangout aisle for me.

I could just hear it over the Kroger intercom. Meltdown on Aisle 7---Clean-up needed!"

That was it----clean-up was needed. So.....back to the prayer chair before I walked out the door. 

After all, Wednesdays, on my weekly schedule, have always been "Weeping Wednesdays," a time of confession. 

Create in me a clean heart O Lord and renew a right spirit within me.
(Psalm 51:10, ESV)

Faithful spirit. (GWT) Loyal spirit. (NLT) Resolute spirit. (NET) Right attitude. Right spirit. (KJV)(ISV) Steadfast spirit. (NASB) 

Right spirit is the antithesis of a meltdown.

"S" Word

At our home, there are two "S" words we work hard to avoid.

The first S, is shut-up. Tho I addressed shut-up in a previous blog, it was not quite in the same context. 

We try to avoid this  S word by substituting a more acceptable "hush."

The second  S,  "stupid" seems totally out of place as a noun, especially when referencing a human being with such a moniker.

Other "bad" S words that come to mind are sucker (as in gullible) and sin---yet, sin is ever present and needs to be labeled for what it is. 

BUT....two recent quotes have me realize that even S words with bad inferences can be necessary for emphasizing truth, especially to ones with "dull" hearing (aka not having ears to hear) as a way of getting their attention.

For believers....."Sin does NOT make things more interesting; sin makes us lose heart."(2 Corinthians 4:1 & 16) (C. Huffman)

A sinner can repent, but STUPID is forever; . (Billy Sunday)

So.....listen up----I certainly did.

Hum-m-m-m......sin (the unrepentant variety) and stupid----maybe those two S words go hand-in-hand.

18 ways....

.....18 ways to quick start start a day.....

5 --USPS cards
3 --text messages
2 --email messages
2 --on-line cards
1 --singing card
1 --surprise google message *
1 --bag w/ cheesestraws & poundcake
1 --yummy cupcake *
1 --tray of lemon squares
1/2 --salted caramel
1/2 --handcrafted chocolate heart

18 ways to remind one to number her days and be "grateful for each day the good Lord gives." (Daddy aka Grandaddy Brud) (Psalms 90:12)

* Google --"How do it know?"

** my fave white cupcake with buttercream frosting--design by Molly in a "Dotsy" liner 

Second Day!

When man works, man works; when man prays, God works. (Angus Buchan)

He certainly did that for sweet Lucy today as she  was reassigned to the preschool just around the corner from her home.......and went shopping with Daddy for the new school uniform.

Answered prayer that blessed her grandmother's heart----God's best in His timing.

FIRST DAYS!

A joyful heart is good medicine...(Proverbs 17:22) For a grandmother that includes first day of school pix from pre-school to 8th grade.

Pre-school Lucy

Pre-K Andrew

1st Grade John Parker

2nd Grade Owen

l-r 8th Grade Nathan, 4th Grade Caleb, 6th Grade Noah

INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY

Today's the day......guess where I am headed today? To the Collierville Library for a writers' conference.

.........and the  Mid-South Book Festival begins tomorrow. Body wearying fun for a bibliophile!

Be still my heart......the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body. (Ecclesiastes 12:12)

Buzz Words

Mrs. Eleanor Morgan. Even typing the name brings back the 9th grade "dread" of the science class spring project assignment.*
Thankfully my Uncle Pete came to my rescue, all the way from Clarksville, TN---helping me do a "Beekeeping" display. I don't remember too much about the process except that Uncle Pete made me wear big gloves and it was hard to take pictures with my "Brownie" camera with those gloves on. Visually, I only remember the green and white box type hives at the far end of his back yard on willow Heights. It's the auditory memory that stays with me. 

Apiary audio.
That hum. From a the hum-m-m of a single AWOL bee or the hive buzz which sounded like rushing water to me to the incredibly LOUD buzz,  of a new swarm that Uncle Pete retrieved from a nearby playground.
Think buzz saw!
Irritating and aggravating, not soothing.

All of that to say, lately my "nighttime "head feels as if it's caught in said beehive.
Anxious thoughts buzz in my head. Surely Psalm 94:19 is etched somewhere in the furrowed lines of my forehead. Yet, the BUZZING continues, usually between 2 and 4 am.

Obviously, I have a life lesson that I have yet to learn-----so the struggle continues.

As Carolyn Weber noted in her latest book,  holy is the day, settling into a horizontal position, was enough for my body to "snap into memory mode." (p. 39) Her imagined happenings of mishaps or crime that could rob her of a loved one or that she could be dying from "some unknown, unnamed ailment gnawing at her from the insides" settles in once she is prone. (p.40)

I hope to finish this book quickly to see if she has new ideas or verses for me to use as appropriate "buzz" words.

*Thanks to Uncle Pete's tutelage, I received a blue ribbon.

International Inspiration

Ukraine speaks my heart---may the Lord bless us that we might bless others.

This sign from one of my Ukraine ladies says it well. It's what they are doing as they "give" out of their own need/lack to bless the their countrymen. Refuges from their own land who have been displaced by the fighting. (James 1:17)

Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow.......from one Ukrainain to another.

T.R.U.T.H.

These days there are many definitions for the word truth. People tend to hide truth or bend truth to suit their own needs. (Think more opinion than truth or possibly void of real truth) Most Urban Dictionary definitions of truth were profane, including lewd words for bodily functions or vodka injections, except for one contributor, Matt-the-Jesus-Follower. Truth stares us in the face but we look away, terrified to make eye contact with something that judges our actions and lives.

Vines' Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words offered the Greek, αλήθεια, using truth objectively as a noun. A noun which signifies the reality lying at the basis of an appearance; the manifested, veritable essence of matter. What you see on the outside is a true reflection of it's basis.

The truth of God is the reality of who He is---whose existence is a verity.

So.....as I prepare to teach truth, I need to simplify and just go back to Him, the One who is Truth, to supply the understanding I need. (John 14:6)
As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth. (Daniel 9:13)

T.R.U.T.H. My simple definition,
a pithy acronym that suits me.

T eaches

R ighteous
U nderstanding
T hrough

H im