Category: Faith

Posted on in Book quotes, Challenge, Faith, Music, Nature, Obedience, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Surrender

Enough?

There are t-shirts and bumper stickers about declaring, “You are enough.” An essential message for those struggling with mental health.

In her devotional Amy Carmichael quoted part of the following hymn this morning.

July 7 "Translated from the old German of Ter Steegen have been in my heart:

Am I not enough, Mine own? enough,
Mine own, for thee?
********
All shalt thou find at last,
Only in Me.

Am I not enough, Mine own, I, forever
and alone, I, needing thee?

YouTube had this rendition


Yes, God is enough to get me through this. God can see you through your difficulties and challenges, too. I am determined to remember the message from the Lord through Ter Steegen that yes, God is enough!

I am weeks away from existing as a human Do-ing; I am more at peace if I rest for now in Be-ing. Christ is enough to help me get through this, but the neighbors and church family have certainly helped! Food Train threatened to become food flood. Flowers and flower bed helpers. Watermelon, soup, an entire meal just dropped at the house. People have come to help me with little chores and putting away my laundry, getting a load of wash started, getting things out of the dryer for me to fold.

Early this morning I saw a buck with two does walk through the neighbor’s yard. A baby bunny appeared out back. Then this afternoon I saw the buck again in a different area. He is a young buck, but a buck indeed. What a blessing! The Lord did not have to let me see that animal. It did cheer me up though! I cannot sit in my prayer chair. It is too low and right now too hard to get out of.

I am reminded there are people who will live the remainder of their lives in wheelchairs. Hopefully, this is just temporary for me. It certainly changes perspective on life. I was sitting in the kitchen one evening and Bob asked me what I was doing. I was thinking how easy it would be to just get up and walk to another room. And then remembered I may not. I want this surgery to be successful. I want the healing to go well. I am working hard to keep my glucose levels even and low. It is tempting though to give in to emotional eating. Not good thinking Molly Lin. As some used to call this, “Stinkin’ thinkin’!” That will get me no place good.

So please continue to lift us and others you know who are not up to their usual activities. We all need grace and all the help we can get. Prayer works. God can provide for us and through us. I will do this well, with God’s help.

Lord, we need Your touch!
Posted on in Faith

Must be Getting Better!

I wrote a few entries last week but I never set them up to send. I was preoccupied with improving my state of being and kept waiting for them to show up. Finally, I realized I must not have dated them for sending. Oh well, this week I hope to spend Tuesday morning writing and posting to you!

I must really be getting better, because today I have the itch to write!! But alas, I have a visitor coming at 10 AM. I have Bob assisting me with a shower and Monday morning for writing is not to be.

Amy Carmichael wrote in The Edges of His Ways

“Dr. F. B. Meyer once told me that when he was young he was very irritable, and an old man told him that he had found relief from this very thing by looking up the moment he felt it coming, and saying, “Thy sweetness, Lord.” By telling this, that old man greatly helped Dr. Meyer, and he told it to tens of thousands.

F. B. Meyer

“I pass it on to you because I have found it a certain and a quick way of escape. Take the opposite of your temptation and look up inwardly, naming that opposite: Untruth–Thy truth, Lord; Unkindness–Thy kindness, Lord; Impatience–Thy patience, Lord; Selfishness–Thy unselfishness, Lord; Roughness–Thy gentleness, Lord; Discourtesy–Thy courtesy, Lord; Resentment, inward heat, fuss–Thy sweetness, Lord, Thy calmness, Thy peacefulness.


“I think that no one who tries this very simple plan will ever give it up. (It takes it for granted, of course, that all is yielded–the “I” dethroned.) Will all to whom it is new please try it for a day, a week, a month, and test it.”

This is indeed a wonderful practice. When I want to be some place else besides in a chair, Your Presence, Lord. Yes, right here. Closer than my breath.

Posted on in Faith

Week by Week, Hour by Hour

Four weeks down, four to go.

And then I read

“Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.” Wendell Berry

The challenge now is getting my strength back. I have stretches to do to strengthen my legs, knees and ankle, but overall getting my strength back to where it was previously is a daunting challenge. One morning I did too much and did not even read during my afternoon nap. Just plain fell asleep from exhaustion. VERY unlike me!

I find it difficult to pace myself. Then gravity convinces me to go sit down, elevate and ice my foot. Yikes. I was never so aware of the pull of gravity than after foot surgery! Two plates, nine screws and ZOWIE that knows how to ache!

I am trying to remain joyful even in the face of this long recovery. I had planned to learn a little origami, but so far if I get energy to be up and about I just want to help take some of the responsibilities of running the household off of Bob. Balance? not so much.

Stitches are out. Steri strips are off. Rubbing Aquaphor into the incision. Trying to be a good girl. That only works sometimes.

The surgery is over. The healing has begun. Before I know it I will be up and at ’em. For now, I will do my best to be joyful to sit and do what I can from the chair.

Posted on in Faith

Be like a seed

Imagine how this bouquet would look if the seeds had not given way to the earth and the rain?

This quote spoke to both Bob and me as our once organized routine lives have been upended by the chaos of this surgery and recovery.

“When the earth opens up under your feet, be like a seed. Fall down; wait for the rain. Alexander Chee

Yep! That is how we are getting through this turmoil. Sort of like riding the waves and being seasick. Trying to get a bearing and swooping down into another trough. (Is that the right word, Dan?)

Be like a seed.

Fall down.

wait for the rain.

The word of the Lord is like rain to my soul.

I wait for direction and ideas on how to cope.

The rain comes. I soak it up. I sprout.

Years ago I wrote about (I misspelled about and autocorrect put in snappy. Ugh!) I wrote about growing squash in a box.I will search for the post . Don’t trust myself to quote it correctly just now. Amazingly I found it!! Click on this and read https://treasures-in-plain-sight.org/2025/03/12/imbibition-part-3/

I just re-read it and I have been strengthened by the Word of God. May this day bring you courage that when the bottom drops out of your life, you will be like a seed, drop down. Wait for the rain and let yoru soul be given new life.

Posted on in Faith

Megan Preston Meyer

The Forward Day by Day entries for June are written by the author noted above. June 21 she wrote about the distance between her prayer chair and her desk.

“The inspiration, aspiration, and conviction take is breathed into me while I sit quietly in the corner of my office seems to fade as soon as I open my eyes. I want to tell in the light what is said in the dark, but sometimes, it seems so big. How can I possibly do it justice? How can I even start?“

This woman is living my experience! The Holy Spirit assures us both that we will be given what to say. I have been having difficulty holding my prayer/mediation experience and carrying it into my day.

So this morning I am trying to relate to you what it is like to recover with weeks and weeks ahead of me with no weight bearing on the left surgical foot. Well, I have bad news for my doctor. The no weight bearing part is not going to happen.

I had a setback in the doctor’s office last week. At home I had been scooting on my foot in the bathroom, wearing a sock as I navigated the tiles to get to the toilet. It was working really well. Sort of scoot right heel left, scoot right heel right to position my body while holding up me left leg. I did not wear a shoe the whole first week.

WordPress not letting me edit on this iPad. I know the last sentence sounds like a pirate. “Holding up my left leg”

The day we went to the doctor I put on a shoe. When it was time to get on the xray table I got off the scooter. I forgot I had the shoe on. Tried to scoot my foot and Wham! I twisted my knee on right leg. It popped so loudly, the xray tech and I both heard it. Went instantly to pain. He got the pictures he needed. I began to cry from the pain. Had to regain my composure before I could mount the knee roller again.

Managed to get back to the exam room. PT came in and got me an ice pack. She put it on my knee with an ace bandage. I was a mess.

Doctor changed soft huge bandage to smaller bandage with a boot. Only wants non weight bearing, but that has been impossible with this other knee. So I use it as little as possible, yet I have indeed stepped down in it. I TRY to only use it for balance.

Long story short i could not use the knee roller without pain that made me grind my teeth. A friend who is a retired Physical Therapist came over the next day to teach me how it move without so much pain. It was eventually decided I should let a wheelchair do the work and give knee a rest and time to heal up. Doc had said if it did not improve by Thursday appointment he would put me in a brace. We bought a compression brace and another friend lent me a fancy brace.

So I can finally get to the bathroom on my own again. It was quite a set back though. Emotionally as well as physically. I was doing well getting around on the knee roller. Yes, it tires me out, but at least Bob was freed up from having to do EVERYTHING for me!

Please pray for Bob as his energy wants long before his to-do list is finished. We are quite a couple here!

I am going to end here before I throw this iPad across the room. Was trying to type his energy wanes long before his to-do list ends. Prayers needed and all warm thoughts!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Faith, medical treatment, Music, Nature, Prayer, Surrender, Thanks, Worship

Goodness of the Lord

One thing I really missed during this first week of recovery is sitting in my prayer chair. Have not figured out how to get the knee roller so I can sit there. Then there is the challenge of rising from that chair. A low swivel rocker…

I read from the Amazing Grace devotional. She wrote, “Though a dream may have risen a little out of reach for now, they are still on the scale…{One side of your scale may be a little weightier.} This is as it should be right now, but it won’t be this way forever. Unless the scale crashes to the ground, you are in balance – no matter how uneven the sides. As long as you remember to seek his wisdom and walk in his truth, it isn’t going to crash.”

This morning sitting at the dining room table I heard a not familiar bird song. Cornell’s Merlin Bird ID told me it was an eastern towhee. They are lovely birds sporting three colors. I could not see it but definitely was blessed to hear it.

I miss watching for the eastern cottontail rabbits. And wouldn’t you know it I looked up and in the distance there was one, right in Sherry’s yard. At about the same turn the song below came into my mind. I hummed along as I watched the rabbit greet ANOTHER rabbit with arial jumps. Must be mating time again! I often watch the rabbits with binoculars, but was blessed to see them this morning without the aid of those, (besides they are in the bedroom, on the floor).

Been trying to add a YouTube link for the song I was hearing. I cannot get it to work! So if you go to YouTube maybe copy and paste this link

https://youtu.be/b4EsaIBMp9c?is=gYjxoOOi697NW8hb

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. Right here with me at this table. My foot resting on the parked knee roller. Trust me, it does not like to hang down! As I start to finish this entry the rabbit has gone from the shadows to bright sunshine. It is as if the Lord is declaring He sees me as I seek to see him. “You shall seek me and find me when you seek for me with all of your heart.” (NIV paraphrase)

“When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart,” Jeremiah 29:13 NRSVUE

Posted on in Book quotes, Faith, Humor, medical treatment, Obedience, Rest

Finished Week 3

Only 5 to go before I go to therapy and get to walk again!

Reviewing Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach, Ph. D.:

P. 82 “We bring alive the spirit of Radical Acceptance when, instead of resisting emotional pain, we are able to say yes to our experience. Pat Rodegast writes, “So walk with your heaviness, saying yes. Yes to the sadness, yes to the whispered longing. Yes to the fear. Love means setting aside walls, fences, and unlocking doors, and saying yes …. One can be in paradise by simply saying yes to this moment.” The instant we agree to feel fear or vulnerability, greed or agitation, we are holding our life with an unconditionally friendly heart.

P. 84 “There are many ways of sending the message of yes to our inner life. We can whisper, “it’s okay” or even a welcoming “Hello” – silently or softly out loud – in response to a painful emotion. Yes might also be an image or a gesture. A friend of mine mentally visualizes herself bringing her palms together and bowing to what has appeared. When she feels the grip of anxiety, anger or guilt, she imagines bowing to it with a sense of genuine respect. I sometimes lightly place my hand on my heart and send a message of acceptance and care to whatever is arising in me.

“Thich Nhat Hanh calls his practice of yes “smile yoga.” He suggests bringing a slight but real smile to our lips many times throughout the day, whether we are meditating or simply stopping for a red light. “A tiny bud of a smile on your lips,” writes Thich Nhat Hanh, “nourishes awareness and calms you miraculously . . . Your smile will bring happiness to you and to those around you.” The power of a smile to open and relax us is confirmed by modern science. The muscles used to make a smile actually send a biochemical message to our nervous system that it is safe to relax the flight, fight or freeze response. A smile is the yes of unconditional friendliness that welcomes experience without fear.”

This book has helped me through many difficult situations in my life. Where she writes Buddha I envision Christ. I must practice Radical Acceptance if I am to endure this seated recovery with any grace at all. I have needed to apply the smile to several situations already. Likely there are more to come!

This looks SO MUCH like my neighbor, Ember, who just turned one. Sadly, I had to miss her party. Her parents did bring her to see me afterwards though.

 I made it to eye doctor appointment. Had my eyes dilated which I abhor. Stayed calm throughout the evening by conscious effort. Next day I was tired from the excursion and effort.

This week I get my stitches out and also see the Internist. Two adventures, woohoo!

 

                   

Posted on in Faith

Only post this week

Surgery was delayed for an hour and that made the remainder of the day rough on Bob and me. Bike actual surgery lasted 2-1/2 hours. One screw, 2 plates and no weight bearing for 8 weeks. Lots of medications and knee roller.

I had thought i could lift the knee roller over our one step in the garage. I forgot I would have a total nerve block from my knee down, thus no perception of what I was doing. Also still under the influence of 2-1/2 hours of sedation. We borrowed a wheelchair and Bob dragged me over the threshold. He did doen. I was emotional and terrified.

The night was awful. Worst sleep score I have had ever I think. In the forties. Awake each hour until 5:30-6:30.

Today is better than yesterday! Poems a hilarious card from a friend, She knew I was concerned how to transfer from knee roller to toilet on one leg. The design of this bathroom is a narrow area for toilet, not quite a stall, but close.

Even looks like Lucky!

I have mastered the toilet area in the master bedroom! I would like it master some refreshing sleep. I have books and yarn and the TV remote. I also downloaded a free audio book through our Library access to Hoopla.

Plenty of topics to pray about. Thanks for reading! Unless I feel much, much better I am unlikely to post the remainder of this week.

Posted on in Aging, Collection of Quotes, Faith, Illness and Health, Obedience, Prayer, Rest, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Trust, Yield

Collection to Calm and Bring Joy

A recent quote from the Calm app reads: “We do not need to be fixed. We try to use more force and the key is how to use less force. How to become more efficient rather than more effortful.” wrote Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen.

Can I do that? Just breathe and use less force in seeking change or comfort?

Another quote. The Danish writer Isak Dinesen wrote, “All suffering is bearable if it is seen as part of a story.”

A different experience had me re-imagine, recall if you will, a situation that brought me incredible delight. I remembered how sore my jaws were after smiling so hard on our wedding day.

September, 1970

I was instructed to apply that image when in distress. Molly, recall that joy when TMJ hits. (as part of having Fibromyalgia, temporomandibular joint pain (TMJ) can occur. It is usually short lived, i.e., a day or two.)

Linking TMJ and joy. Worth a try! This page from my Mary Engelbreit calendar expresses it well!

Art by Mary Engelbreit Quote by Manson Cooley

Another quote read, “The most valuable thing we can do for the psyche is let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of a room, not try to be or do anything whatever.” May Sarton

By the time this post is up I will know if a date has been scheduled for my revisionary left foot big toe surgery. Take out steel plate and 6 screws, clean it all up, remove any new arthritis, replace it all. Eight weeks NO WEIGHT BEARING. In other words, sit down, rest, wander in my mind, live in the changing light of a room and not try to go any where except on a knee scooter-roller whatever you call the contraption. Not try to do much of anything.

Doc told me a year ago I need to have it done as it did not heal correctly six years ago. I asked what if I don’t have it done? He said eventually you will not be able to walk. Well, I am having pain and spasms in that foot. Every night I must elevate it and even ice it.

Yep, seeking all the calm and joy I can store up for this adventure!

Not certain which book I was reading but it said, “How often we are headed in the wrong direction, fighting the wrong fight, battling with reality and losing. I thought of the aspects of myself that are like this woman and this man: how I strive over and over again ….”

“I am somewhat dismayed at how often we hang on where we need to let go and give up where we need to persevere.”

Lord my God give me wisdom to let go into your arms. Give me strength and courage to persevere when I feel like giving up. Help me entrust my life to my faithful Creator.

Posted on in Aging, Art, Faith, Family, Humor, Music, Special Event

July 1984 and 250 Celebration

Everything in the stores is red, white and blue anticipating the celebration of the birth of our country. I even saw a Coke in a round bottle in red, white and blue for the FIFA games! Have not seen this much patriotic color since after 9-11. READ ON CAREFULLY OR YOU MIGHT MISS IT.

Looks like something a six year old would delight in!

So imagine my surprise when I recently unearthed this quote from our son. He had to be all of six years old!

Jeff, “You should have seen who played the Star Strangle Banner!”

I never wrote down who played the Star Strangle Banner that year, but it might be an appropriate name for the theme this year. God help us all.