(FMF Friday) Table

Our Thanksgiving table was blessed with the presence of my sister and her boyfriend this year. Although I text and talk with my sis almost daily  this was the first time we got to see each other face-to-face in over a year. I was so happy that they made it up.  We so enjoyed our brief time together.

My little sister has had a rough time of it the past few years. She has had terrible health issues and several stays in the hospital. We came dangerously close to losing her back in 2010 to pneumonia – when she spent almost three months in the hospital (the majority of which was in the intensive care unit). I had to make the decision to let them ventilate her when her oxygen levels were so low that she couldn’t breathe on her own.  I thank God that He allowed her to survive.

I believe it was in 2012 that she ended up back in the hospital….diagnosed with endocarditis (probably as a result of an infection she caught while in the hospital so long in 2010). It attacked her heart valves. Emergency surgery followed – an artificial heart valve put in.  Again she teetered on the brink of death for several days. Our good God brought her through that as well.

I won’t go into any more details of her health scares, but suffice it to say, she has often questioned God’s decision to let her live. She has gone through periods of great discouragement and depression. I am here to tell you that God knew I needed her. She has been here for me as I’ve traveled the path of grief. She’s always been a phone call away when I have been low.

Having her at our table again was a wonderful thing. It made a hard week happier. For that I’m thankful.

 

(FMF Friday) Dwell

This has been a hard one for me, y’all. I’m trying to establish the habit of writing on the prompt, but Thanksgiving week is tough – as it was four years ago on Thanksgiving weekend that our family of five became only four. My husband and I lost our firstborn son and our two youngest lost their big brother. My mind is scattered, my body is weary, and I miss him. I hate not writing something though so I think this portion of Scripture (which includes the prompt) is about all I’m gonna have. I’m absolutely clinging to this promise. I covet your prayers.

 

 

 

 

(FMF Friday) Weary

My sister and I were talking via text this morning – as we often do – and she asked me if I was going to write anything new for my blog today. See, I had just recently told her that I had started this blog and she has been encouraging me to use it to release some of my feelings. I proceeded to tell her that today’s prompt was the word ‘weary’ and that I  could probably say a lot about that word right now. I told her that I just didn’t really know exactly how to word it without giving out TMI. She gave me a little pep talk about how I didn’t need to go into specifics and how she felt like God had led me to the Five Minute Friday folks (and Christy in particular – since she is the one who sat with me and led me through starting this blogging adventure) because He knew I needed it right now. Her two little texts served as a starting point for me on this Friday. I wish to share them with you:

“Here’s a starting spot for you: It’s no coincidence that the root word of ‘weary’  is ‘wear’. Stuff wears out, stuff wears on your nerves, you wear stress like a coat. It weighs you down. You can get weary from wearing your problems and letting them weigh you down. Pray about them and shed them. Take ’em off. The longer your dwell on them the more weary you become.”

“If you have an item of clothing on that is making you you uncomfortable (your bra for example) you take it off as quick as you can. Yet we insist on wearing our worries that drag us down and hold us back like they were fine jewels or some such. Why can’t we children just trust God and shed the troubles and worries that are making us weary?”

I realized then that she was totally right. I am very weary right now due to worrying myself silly about some stuff going on in my life. I’m mentally exhausted and bent down from worry. I pray over and over about things, but then get right back up and worry some more. Why can’t I take God at His Word?

“For I have satiated  the weary soul, and  I have replenished  every sorrowful soul.” — Jeremiah 31:25

Thank you, sweet little sister, for motivating me today (I know you’ll be reading this 😜). And I think your words prove that YOU are the writer in the fam.

 

 

(FMF Friday) Bacon

 

When I heard the prompt this week was bacon I laughed. Everybody seems to be such a fan. I so enjoy the conversations with my Twitter friends, and the bacon ones always get lively. But bacon? Hmmm?…The picture that comes to my mind when I hear the word is that commercial for a dog treat – the one where the dog comes running while talking. “Bacon, bacon, bacon!” I always loved that commercial and pretty much snickered like a silly girl every time I saw it. What can I say? I’m a sucker for talking animals.

If I’m being totally honest with everyone though, bacon is just not my favorite thing made from a pig. It smells great (I will give you that), but the taste…to me…is just meh. It always seems so greasy, salty, and it gets stuck in my teeth when I eat it. I’m very thankful that the good Lord has provided other yummy meat choices on a pig – namely a pork roast. I fix that up with some garlic, salt, and pepper. Yum! Now that’s what Im talking about….

The Lord has faithfully provided many food choices for His children. No matter what your favorite is we need to remember to thank Him for His provision.