Let nothing dim the light that shines from within., not even physical ailments!
Yes, I added, not even physical ailments. I cannot seem to catch a break. There is always something with this body! I decided to walk at least one mile a day in dedicated exercise time. I got a few blisters. Wrapped my toes with slip on cushions. Got blisters on top of blisters. Double slip on cushion, no improvement. Added a Band-aid over the great toe and the cushioned sleeves over that. No relief. Orthotics? Shoes? Just my feet?
Returned to the foot surgeon because I was clueless. The toe he put a steel plate in a few years ago (with six lovely screws) seems to be rising up again. Arthritis had made that toe begin to stick up in the first place. He went in during surgery, removed the bone, shaved it down, turned it over. Screwed it down with the plate. He showed me on the current x-ray that it cannot rise up as the bone tissue has grown over the plate now. But respecting how it feels to me, he ordered a CT scan of that toe.
October 2019 after surgery
In the meantime a more expert orthotist the surgeon knows is going to rebuild a pair of orthotics for me in an attempt to correct what the other guy did wrong. We will not order new shoes yet, though that might be in my near future. Blisters need to heal.
Grrr – you must understand I have never been athletic. As a fibromyalgia person I know that the best treatment is exercise, but I do not feel better after I exercise so I shun it when possible. Even with this summer heat, I had FINALLY talked myself into doing this walking and now I am told to only wear open-toed shoes while my toes heal. Told to stop reaching for this mile a day goal. To get in a pool, or try an elliptical, ride a bike, i.e., find some other form of exercise besides walking. He warned me that if I do change this I could be seeing him in the future for toe amputations. NO diabetic wants to hear that, although Bob and the doc do joke that it might be easier to just cut off my feet.
Let nothing dim the light – Oh Lord! I need your help. And just to add injury to blisters, etc. I stepped down off a little foot stool and happened to step onto one of my shoes. As I went down I twisted toe #4 and #5 underneath my foot. Was not certain if I broke them or not. Purple and sore. When doc did the routine x-ray of that foot he could not see a fracture. Said there is a possibility there is a hairline one that the x-ray did not show. He wrapped it with brown stretchy tape (there is a name for that) and told me to check the toes when I got home to make certain there was no redness from the wrap. Then wrap them anytime I would be walking. By the time I got home I took that tape off because of throbbing toes! It has not been put on again.
So what does this mean in terms of the Maya Angelou quote? Let NOTHING dim the light.
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him JOB 13:15a
God has not kept my toes from blistering or my feet from having troubles. Even now, I will trust Him.
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:36-39 NIV
Nothing can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I wrote a prayer likely in 2020 and it still rings true today.
I have determined that this day, each time I am drawn up short by pain, I will praise You for I love You better than life - even better than quality of life.
My mother had in her belongings “A Prayer for Those Growing Old.” One stanza read,
Seal my lips when I am inclined to tell of my aches and pains. They are increasing with the years and my love to speak of them grows sweeter as time goes by.
I write all of this to say if you are struggling with physical ailments try to keep Christ Jesus in mind. He never promised to heal every one of us during this lifetime. However, we are told in the book of Revelation that in the new heaven and new earth glorious things await us! There will be no more death, mourning, crying or pain (NIV). That is such a glorious thought it is almost inconceivable. I for one am willing to cling to those promises. Help me hang on to the end, Jesus.
Stay with each one of us, I pray. Fix our eyes on You and Your word. You promised You would never leave us or abandon us. Even to old age, and gray hair I will praise You and declare Your deeds (Psalm 71). You are worthy of our praise, all honor, glory and dominion. You have taught us there is so much more than just this physical life we know.
The lyric from “Show me Your Face” says I will make it to the end, If I can just see Your face, I know I will make it to the end, If I can just see Your face.
“Wherever Your glory is best served.” St. Ignatius prayer
Mom had bunches of sayings. Likely Your Mom did, too?
“You know it’s so!” does not even have an image for this day and age!
“Don’t chase the pain.” Take your post-op pain medications on a schedule. Do not wait until the pain overwhelms you.
“Let’s get this show on the road.” The Random House Dictionary of America’s Popular Proverbs and Sayings says this expression originated in the world of traveling theater productions and was in common use by the 1930s, having originated around 1910.
Remember when television shows would admonish you, “Don’t touch that dial!” Now we don’t even have dials any more with all the remote controls and now even voice controls!
“Nothing ever has to be true for people to believe it.” Sadly, America does not “run on Dunkin” as much as this saying.
“She always said you might as well hope for the best as go around fearing the worst.” Hillary Greene
Once I was riding a public bus and asked an older man how he was doing today. His response, “Okay. Can’t complain. Complain’ never did any good any way!”
Hope I made you think about sayings you know and perhaps smile once or twice?
I have no memory of the doctor or a tech taking me out of the cast. I do not remember any kind of physical therapy. I do remember the doctor talking with my mother about fears that one leg would be shorter than the other.
After the hospital I had anxiety about doctors and needles. My parents could not tell me about a doctor’s appointment the night before as I would get almost hysterical. Eventually I outgrew the fear. Though to this day I have to psych myself up a bit when there is a needle involved in medical treatment.
Years later while on a retreat I learned that the nuns serving at Good Samaritan Hospital were from the Sisters of Charity convent in Delhi. As an adult I thanked them for comforting this child.
About 1954Current day
My legs grew to the same length. Dr. McMath did a grand job caring for me. Sadly, my father died of heart disease when I was eleven years old. There were no treatments for heart disease in 1961. I never knew him as a man, just Daddy.
I never tried Double Dutch jump rope again. In fact, I have never been inclined to athletic activity. Hated gym class in elementary school. The Double Dutch jump rope incident stole all my confidence. My sister and I were most often unsupervised in our play activities. One day we were playing the garage and found my dad’s ladders for painting. I developed a fear of heights after a ladder slid down a wall while I was sitting on it. Landed hard on the concrete floor. Amazing now that I did not break my fingers where I was holding on. No one had ever had a need to teach me then that a ladder must be anchored before being used.
I find it amazing how our childhood experiences shape us as people. I married a kind man who became a medical technologist. This is the person in a hospital laboratory who can draw your blood and test any fluid that you can put out. In the beginning of our marriage, we were once sitting in a movie theater, and he was feeling the vein in my elbow. Freaked me out. He explained the need to practice. I calmed down. Now I am faced with needles daily: lancets, insulin needles, wearing a continuous glucose monitor, monthly drug injections.
After playing with the ladders, I still dislike heights. When we took our children to the CN Tower in Toronto we went to the observation deck. It is 113 floors above the ground and has a glass floor. I was holding on to the wall around the elevator as I walked around the observation deck. The children were laughing at me. As I walked, I came upon a woman crawling on the floor. Guess it could have been worse! Nope. Heights are not my thing!
From childhood trauma to needle fears then married to a Lab man, (They don’t call them blood suckers for nothing!). From Christian educated by the babysitter and dropped off at church to a Christ seeker who became the only Episcopalian in the family of origin. From fear of heights to challenging the fear for the sake of the children and a family vacation memory.
Our childhood impacts us, but not always for the good. Imprints formed during childhood are not washed away by time. Seventy years later they can still affect how I think and feel.
I have been asked to explore some other methods of telling my story besides the blog and poetry. So I have attempted to put a few memories down on paper. This will be a 2 part read since it has many more words than most blog posts ever attempt.
At age three I broke my thigh playing with my sister and her older friends in a neighbor’s driveway. They were doing Double Dutch jump rope where they swing two ropes simultaneously in opposite directions and you jump in on the side of one of the rope turners. (See photo above.) The girls let me try. I broke my leg. Obviously, way too complicated a sport for a 3-year-old. Someone ran to my house and told mom. She came to get me.
We rode to Good Samaritan hospital from Loveland to Clifton in the car. I was in the back seat. I only remember someone lifted me into the back seat. There were no freeways then. No idea how long it took us to get to Good Samaritan. I was taken to that hospital because my Dad was already admitted there with a heart attack.
The hospital doctors decided to put my leg in traction for six weeks to heal. I suppose they numbed my leg or more likely put me to sleep when they set my leg? I have no memory of that. When they put me in traction, I do remember being furious that they put me in diapers. I was so insulted. I was certainly fully potty trained! It was hot and there was no air conditioning. My long dark hair was cut off in a short choppy bob. Below is a photo of me in traction, hair cut short and sweating. Once while I was asleep, the staff brought my meal. When I awoke the milk was no longer cold. I loved cold milk. My mother obtained a glass of ice and poured my milk over it. I was so angry. I had never had milk like that. Could be I was a 3-year-old brat? Or simply confused and frustrated at my new situation.
One day during my stay they rolled my bed into the room where my dad was a patient. It was such an unusual situation for a young child. I do remember he talked with me and our hands touching.
Someone came to visit and brought me a white stuffed dog that I named Casey. He had a metal nose (which at age 73 I still have). His ears seemed to be made from real fur, sort of like a curly tanned hide. The rest of him was a stuffed white dog shape. Someone else brought me Brach’s cream filled Royal caramel rolls in a metal can. To this day I use that can for candy. Once I saw the same can used as a prop in a movie!
I do not remember there being a television in my room. I am certain televisions were not standard equipment in 1954. Certainly, no computer tablet to play upon. I might have tried to color, but lying down that would have been difficult! Hopefully someone read me stories.
After six weeks, my leg was put in a cast. I do remember being alone with the Sisters of Charity when they decided it was time to cast my leg. Somewhere to my side, across the room, there was a sink. Men in white coats came towards me with large white steaming sheets. I had no idea what those were. I was so frightened. Those men began to wrap my leg in the warm plaster preparation. The nuns comforted me. I left that hospital wanting to be a nun. I have no idea where my mother was during the casting. Perhaps she was not allowed in the treatment room? Maybe she was with my dad in the cardiac unit? All I do know is that the nuns (in full habits) comforted me. I went home in the cast.
I left the hospital wanting to be a nun. My parents bought me a Nun doll for Christmas. I have her tiny rosary in my keepsake cabinet. When I chose to be baptized my mother forbid me to become a Roman Catholic. She said my grandfather, a Methodist minister, would roll over in his grave. I eventually joined the Episcopal church. They came closest to what I felt was true worship. Also, as close as you can get to being a Catholic but without the Pope and such strong emphasis on Mary.
Doll sized rosary on tiny altar to remind me to make a of sacrifice of praise to the Lord our God
It must have been difficult for my mom to care for me, especially while my dad recovered from yet another heart attack. I do know we had a babysitter named Myrtle. Towards the end of her life, she wanted to see my sister and me one more time. She visited us because she was dying of cancer. She gave my sister and me a tiny white New Testament and signed it “Love, Myrt and Gerald.” My first and at times best New Testament! I still have it and use it occasionally.
I have no memory of the doctor or a tech taking me out of the cast. I do not remember any kind of physical therapy. I do remember the doctor talking with my mother about fears that one leg would be shorter than the other.
The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be witnessed – to be seen, heard and companioned exactly as it is. Parker Palmer
I might not agree with every word of the above quote, but isn’t it true of each of us? We just “want to be seen, heard and companioned?” Meeting my childhood friend for lunch was just such a blessing. We always manage to pick up right where we left off and we can share with each other and laugh and enjoy the company of the other knowing we are loved and accepted.
The Lord wants to save us and improve our life in every way that comes with salvation. Most of all our Creator is willing to see us, hear us and accompany us in all the paths of our life.
When I ask for advice the Lord is willing to send good counsel to me. Often my mistakes are not fixed but I am shown ways to gain forgiveness and make for change among those I may have injured or hurt.
To know and to be known, what a blessing!
I believe another thing we long for is for those around us to be sincere, trustworthy. Those qualities seem to be more difficult than every to find in this day and age. I am sickened and disgusted by the politicians who say this person is despicable and not trustworthy and in a matter of months change their tune to this person is the greatest ever! I do not want leaders that can change their tune rapidly especially when having power dangled before them as something they, too, might grasp. How are we to believe the claims that smack of insincerity? What ever happened to having principles and standing for them? There is a saying that if you stand for nothing you will fall for anything. So true.
I either need to stop watching television news or move to Canada. Not they don’t have their own troubles, but at least to me they would be new troubles. Lord, “Tell me Your secret, help me bear the strain of toil, the fret of care.”
Parker Palmer says when we make a deep bow to the soul of a suffering person our respect “reinforces the souls healing resources.” What are your resources? Mine reside in this verse.
So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. 1 Peter 4:19
Trust, trust. Be still and trust. Some days more difficult than others.
Do not lie, even to yourself written by Joan Cittister
Mahatma Gandhi wrote, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Gandhi could have been a Benedictine. Humility is about living an integrated life, a life in which each part is in harmony with every other dimension.
What we think, what we say, and the way we go about life cannot be well lived when they are in opposition to one another. When, in fact, they simply cancel one another out, there is no integrity left to any of them. The person who lives a lie, for instance, no matter how effective otherwise, is in tension every moment of the day. The person who pretends to be something they are not—wealthy, credentialed, in emotional control—cannot function openly anywhere.
The truth is that we are meant to be transparent. People, hearing what we say, should know what we think. Seeing what we do with our lives, people can infer what we care about and how we think about things. If we say one thing but think another, somewhere, somehow, it all begins to seep out. Worst of all, the burden of hiding exhausts a person from the soul on out.
Benedict in the chapter on humility is quite direct about the intertwined life of soul, body, and emotions as the measure of integrity, strength, serenity, and freedom. In the final step of humility, his clarity is so simple it is stunning. He writes: Our humility “is evident at the Opus Dei, in the oratory, the monastery, or the garden, on a journey or in the field, or anywhere else.”
The directions are achingly pure: Be what you say you are. Do not lie, even to yourself. Don’t live two lives—loving parent/missing parent; honest employee/cheating employee; devoted public servant/self-absorbed public servant. The truth is that egotism is the bane of community building. No one can build anything that lasts when the materials are bogus.
I give myself over to my faithful Creator, our faithful One. This is not an easy task when I am troubled and disturbed, but He makes a way where there seems to be no way. Help me, Lord, continue to do good.
Try to listen as far as 3:55. This refrain rings through my soul!
Recently I had an annual doctor appointment with the Ear Nose and Throat specialist. Her appointments are usually quick, but I have had so many appointments lately that take much longer than anticipated – well, you just never know when you go to a medical office how long it may take.I had made a lunch appointment with a childhood friend for after the appointment.
I went to what I thought was the medical office and realized in the lobby that the building I was in did not have enough floors and was actually where new dermatologist office appointment is for September. So I drove over to the other place and realized in the parking lot that the building I was at was not right either. Went to the high rise building across the driveway arriving just in time for my appointment. The appointment went very fast.
When I emerged I could not think of anything I needed to shop for, so I went home. bob and I ate lunch, As I chewed the last bite I got a phone call from my friend asking, “Am I in the right restaurant?” Once we planned to meet for dinner and she and her husband went to the wrong location. Oh crap! I totally forgot about our lunch and I had actually been looking forward to it!
Told her to go ahead and order I would be right there. She said she would wait so we could eat together. I told her I just ate, but I will meet and order iced tea.
I grabbed my keys and jumped in the car. There is a funeral home near our house. As i drew near to it I saw a funeral procession was turning into the road. This was the largest funeral procession I had seen in a long time! The Ohio law reads
Excepting public safety vehicles proceeding in accordance with section 4511.45 of the Revised Code or when directed otherwise by a police officer, pedestrians and the operators of all vehicles, street cars, and trackless trolleys shall yield the right of way to each vehicle that is a part of a funeral procession. Whenever the lead vehicle in a funeral procession lawfully enters an intersection, the remainder of the vehicles in the procession may continue to follow the lead vehicle through the intersection notwithstanding any traffic control devices or right of way provisions of the Revised Code, provided that the operator of each vehicle exercises due care to avoid colliding with any other vehicle or pedestrian.
(C) No person shall operate any vehicle as a part of a funeral procession without having the headlights of the vehicle lighted and without displaying a purple and white or an orange and white pennant in such a manner as to be clearly visible to traffic approaching from any direction.
So all of us waited. I remembered that they would block each intersection as they went down the highway so I decided to take the back road to mall. While in stopped funeral traffic here comes a fire truck. He went on other side of the road then turned down street I had chosen.
When traffic moved I saw he had pulled into a driveway so I went on ahead on my chosen road. Next thing I knew, 2 roaring ambulances from the other direction were screaming towards me. Yikes this was a busy hurried trip to the forgotten lunch date! I made up a little time when all lights were green.
As I got to mall and there were 3 sheriff cars. That is a lot of officials to be having lunch together!
Drove to the location I believed was right, restaurant was not there. Circled mall, saw nothing. Called my friend. She said at the end next to another restaurant. I went to end of mall and saw 4 sheriff cars. Then saw I saw them pinning a guy to the wall outside Macy’s. He must have been a shoplifter. Yikes. Found the place. As I looked for my friend, the waiter said, pointing, “Your friend.” Fell into booth with an unbelievable story for my day.
We laughed together as she ate and I sipped really strong iced tea. I ordered an unusual dessert, Kunefe, for us to share. My bill was as much as my entire meal from the night before! Nope, we both agreed, we will not be going back there anytime soon! We put another date for lunch on the calendar for August and decided to text and remind each other next time.
Oi! the foibles of “Miss Molly” as I am so often called.
How do you feel about the texting shortcuts? Will my grandson even know how to spell?
So, BTW, “By The Way” Bob wanted you to know he is just fine now. I failed to say that in my blog about when he was hospitalized and I learned that if you are going to be crucified you must hold perfectly still. Actually this morning he is out in this awful heat and high humidity taking an 8 mile bike ride on a dedicated bike trail. Hopefully he will drink all of the water he carries with him.
Here is another example of Bob’s indefatigable humor. He cut this out of the New Yorker and could not wait to share it with me! Blower, chain saw, and of course his beloved bagpipes! Me in the window trying to write this blog, or poetry, etc.
The weather has been just awful here in the Ohio River Valley as well as most of the USA. I walked a little over a mile this morning and once inside realized I was totally drenched. Again. I pass my neighbor, another Bob, as he rides his bike in the neighborhood. We are both equally tired of this draining heat.
Meanwhile the silly beagle is basking in the front yard. With all that fur does she not have a thermostat? On that note, she now wants in. Maybe she is smarter than I realize?
Been meaning to ask you, how do you punctuate your day?
Mine is puncture in the evening and puncture in the morning (insulin injections). Lord, I am grateful to have the insulin and other medications that I need. I do get tired of the needles though. So however you punctuate your days and evenings I hope in the routine you can find a reason to give thanks!
no Brown Cow here. Just wanted to let you know that even some of my posts seem full of bitching and moaning, yet over all I do fairly well on any given day. Yes, pain and fatigue are my constant companions, but by the grace of God I make it through each day!
When we were in the Smoky Mountains we took a trail that required walking five miles one day and that was before noon!
The next day my body was not pleased with the after-pain, but I told myself, “Okay! You did that and did not die. When you get home you must begin walking more REGULARLY.”
June 10 at home I made .7 miles outdoors
And so I have. In spite of the recently brutal heat and humidity (even humid at 8AM) I am trying daily to take at least a one mile walk. Then tack on to that the other steps I take during the day, either walking the dog or going to the grocery and I am doing a reasonable number of steps. This morning I walked 1-1/2 miles in the morning. Yikes.
July 8 I did 1.54 miles and counting!
The only bad news is my toes are blistering. A marathon runner told me to use as much vasoline as I could under my socks. Well, that doesn’t work too well with band-aids. Today I set off with band-aids and silicone pads on some toes, then socks and shoes. Growing old is NOT for sissies! But being sedentary does not let a senior citizen live as long as if she were moving about!! Great for the diabetes, also.
Nothing gets me going as much as upbeat music, or daily morning prayer recording, or sermons from Harlem Renaissance church, any number of things to build up my soul along with my body and not necessarily in that order. Sometimes Lectio 360 comes first.
As that one gym shoe company declares, “Just do it!” swish
Wow. Mom said time goes faster as you get older. I hardly believed her then. Now I know it is oh so true. Do you have things you do daily and feel at times as if you ‘meet yourself coming and going’? I certainly do!
Bob often laments that we do not live someplace such as New Mexico where they have “Big sky,” meaning vast expanses where you can seemingly see forever. Walking out the door last evening to take the dog for her after supper constitutional I looked up and experienced our version of ‘big sky.” Oh those clouds and the heavens seem vast!!
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:1-4 NIV
We had a 24 hour break from the dreaded heat and humidity that has plagued the US. The air was so clear and felt breathable. Today will be a return to the 90s and rising humidity. The relief of that one day made everyone smile.
See these flowers gone to seed?
As I walked past there were 2, no 5, no perhaps 10 goldfinch eating the seeds. They seem to take flight in squadrons as they sensed my presence. I have been seeing fluff drift past the windows occasionally. I figured it was from a tree. I now think it is more likely from these flowers growing near the pond. I was not fast enough with my camera to catch the birds on the plants. Here is an online photo.
Unfortunately, I did see there are still muskrats living in the retention pond. Someone is supposed to be trapping them, but I have never seen that activity.
Lucky continues to improve. I realize we will not have her with us forever, but this is certainly a far cry from thinking we would need to put her down due to her failing ability to walk. She seems to be thriving. She gets about 1/3 can of green beans with each meal and only a little bit of kibble. It is hard to get her weight down. She really likes the canned green beans and it helps her not feel quite so hungry. Maybe since she can walk further now we can get some more pounds off?
During my recent retreat one leader prayed over us saying, “I bless you in all the many names of God. Amen.” Isaiah has perhaps the most familiar list of those names?
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 NIV
While on the retreat I had difficulty one night falling asleep. I decided I would try to praise God by reciting as many names as I could think of.
Holy One Savior Shepherd Alpha and Omega I think I got to 14 before I fell asleep Almighty God King of kings Lord of lords Holder of the keys Resurrected King Friend Brother Comforter Light of the world Bread of Life Living Water
You might want to try this as a form of prayer for yourself. As we remind ourselves of Who we love and serve we are also reminded of the mighty power that is held there and used on our behalf.
Just before I left for retreat I decided to pick up the knitting I learned a few years ago. I have crocheted for over 50 years. About the time Bob retired I decided I should learn to knit. After all those years of crochet I was able to knit the continental method, but never very well. So I got out my needles and set to work. First thing you need to do to knit is called casting on. I could not remember how to do that! I watched YouTube videos. Did not get it. Asked at the Journey Together In Stitches group at Transfiguration Convent and voila! It came back to me with a little help from my friend Bonnie! “Slingshot method”
It can be difficult on a week-long silent retreat to stay quiet and listen. I know the Lord has spoken to me before while crocheting and doing hand work. I wondered how to keep my brain from taking off down unnecessary thought paths.
This is the cover of the first copy I purchased.
About 1997 I had read a book entitled Hinds Feet on High Places, A Christian Allegory.
The book impacted me so much that I gave away every paperback copy that I ever purchased. I finally found it in hardback and made my self buy it so I would keep it. The book is so chock full of Scripture and I delighted in finding the references to each one that I recognized. I wrote my notes in the front of the book. A few years after that a group of us were interested in the story as a study. There was no such thing in the Christian resource world. So I wrote a group study based on the text.
On retreat, I went to my computer link to the library wondering, hoping, they might have an audio version of the book? They not only had one, it was available! The recording is about 5-1/2 hours long. I spent some of the retreat knitting and listening to this wonderful book.
I remembered when I first read it and the Lord was teaching me some of the lessons He gave to Much-Afraid. Her first letter of the alphabet “Acceptance with Joy.”
Where the water drops fell one by one, there grew the little golden flower, though where the seed had come from, Much-Afraid could not imagine, for there were no birds anywhere and no other growing things….She asked, “What is your name, little flower, for I never saw one like you before.” The tiny plant answered at once in a tone as golden as itself, “Behold me! My name is Acceptance-with-Joy.” At that Much-Afraid decided, “I, too, will look up in to His face and say, “Behold me! I am thy little handmaiden Acceptance-with-Joy.” from H. Hurnard’s book Hinds Feet on High Places.
Can you declare the same thing to Christ? Regardless of what comes your way or how your body chooses to age, can you declare to the Almighty, “Behold me, Acceptance-with Joy?”
I have mastered casting on (for now). I have knit a couple small washcloths. I have remembered that this is what the Good Shepherd asks of me, that I follow Him with Acceptance and Joy. Are you able to pick up this challenge?
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
27 “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Luke 12:25-31 NIV
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 