The Lizzy Miracle

In reflecting over this past year…it sure has been what we call here in the south “ a doozy”! I certainly don’t wish to repeat one like it, but I must say that God, once again, has shown Himself faithful. We all are in a much better place this Thanksgiving than last year hands down. You know, in James 1:2 it says, “Consider it all joy ,my brethren, when you encounter various trials.” Now for years in my early walk with the Lord, that one made me scratch my head! Surely the joy in the Bible didn’t mean J-O-Y . You know…joy , joy! Well, I am afraid it most certainly does. It took a little while to realize joy and happiness were totally opposite. Happiness, of course , depends on circumstances while joy is from deep within. True joy must come from God. And nothing at all can steal that joy!!! The enemy certainly will try. I tell you…this year was tough. I have had my heart broken by watching my family endure one of the hardest things ever. Nothing breaks a mother’s heart like watching one of her babies hurt and not being able to do one thing about it. On top of that, my family had to face the fallout from that painful situation. Words getting twisted, and those twisted words believed by others- Loss of close friendships that were rooted deep inside our hearts- not being able to mend broken relationships and having to heal without reconciliation. These things literally shattered me! Nothing has ever broken my heart just like it. And knowing that I hurt others, even though not on purpose, but just the same, I hurt others as well. My heart aches just remembering…however, God is Jehovah Rapha….God who heals! And healing is exactly what He’s been doing! Every single member of our little family is in a better place than we were last year. Our lives are in God’s hands and He is in control and there is so much to be thankful for! I would start naming a few but could never stop so just know I am overwhelmingly thankful for every blessing that God has given me. I have love, so much love, in my heart for those also I never got to bridge that awful gap with also. In my heart, I pray God has truly let them know that in their hearts also.(I KNOW He has been working and blessing them as well- which is one of the things I too am thankful for) Back to this “consider it all joy” business. Well, I told my Hank just this morning I could honestly say I really am thankful this is all over and thankful that ,even though Satan taunted and taunted me and my heart was hardened for a while, my joy remained. See, this was not my first rodeo with Satan trying to steal my joy. No…that scoundrel has been after me since 1986(that’s when I gave my life to Jesus) and bet He’ll try me till I see Jesus face to face!! (But…WE WIN) I know he came to “steal, kill, and destroy” but my God says.. “I’ll never leave you or forsake you” . I know this isn’t so but I like to think God put the verse, “Lo, I am with you always..” in the Bible just for me. It’s true…He’s always , always with us. I will never forget the first time I really began to understand all this. It was actually 16 years ago today. November 20,1994. It was a Sunday morning and I was 3 months pregnant. I woke up in labor and was rushed to the Tupelo hospital where we lost our little baby. I WAS A MESS!!! That day , God took the “D” in disappointment and changed the D to and “H” and made ‘Dis appointment’ –‘His appointment’ because that day changed the course of the rest of my life. I will not , at this time, go into all the ways this took place but it started with taking God at His word!!!(as Beth Moore says, “I’m believing God”) Then choosing to walk in it out in obedience—and He did the rest. It took time…but oh…DID IT WORK!! That is also exactly why we have been married for 25 years and it was cause to celebrate and take that cruise! Did God want or cause me to lose our baby…why of course not!!! However, he sure used it to His glory. It’s all about choosing God in every situation. Have I always chosen God’s way?? Let’s say one way or the other, He knows how to get my attention. He’s allowed me to take the long way many times only to show up exhausted and repentant. Think that’s just what He had in mind. Humbled and bowed at His feet. (best place you’ll ever be) Let me go back to November 1994 for a bit. God sent a friend into my life a few years earlier named Chrissy . I know now that God sends forever friends and seasonal friends into our lives.I really thought she was a forever friend but now there’s no doubt … she was a very special seasonal friend. Now, we’d been friends for a couple of years and had dealt with a lot of life together. We were thrilled to be pregnant at the same time. She was further along and her baby(“boy”) was due in December. As hard as it must have been for her mama to call me on the evening of November 21, 1994 to tell me Chrissy had gone into pre- mature labor, it was as if God had it planned all along. I was in a fog and my heart was depleted. I had cried until I had no more tears and had been in bed all day. It was about 8 PM when she called to tell me that Chrissy had gone into labor that morning a month early and it was not a boy…IT WAS A GIRL!!! She and her husband named her Lori Elizabeth. They call her Lizzy. Tears… many tears….flowed straight from my heart. I could just feel God there in the kitchen chair with me as He hugged my soul with those words of her birth. I have a love for that little girl.(Not so little anymore…she’ll be 16 tomorrow) Although I haven’t seen her in years, she(AND her dear mama) will forever remain in my heart. God used that little baby and her family to help begin to heal a very broken heart! I am so glad I didn’t allow Satan to steal my joy at that time of suffering. I may have missed the blessing of Lizzie!! I could have been upset that she was allowed to be born and my baby wasn’t but I didn’t choose that option… and PRAISE GOD, I didn’t miss it! I was counting it all joy even though I did not ‘feel’ like it. Those emotions sure are unpredictable!! Mine sure change like the wind.(POOR HANK) But My God is “Faithful and True”!!! AMEN AND AMEN Have you noticed God loving on you? I’ll bet if you stop right now, you can think back of times He’s loved you through a situation. If not, maybe you weren’t looking. Don’t miss your “ Lizzy miracle”!! If God did that for me…He’ll show you His love as well. Don’t miss it!!! Keep your heart eyes open because He loves to lavish His love on His babies! Open your arms wide so He can just snuggle you right next to Him so close you can feel His heart beat. Listen…hear it? Let’s truly give Him our thanks and praise this Thanksgiving…and maybe we can make everyday be a day of giving thanks in our hearts! Happy Thanksgiving friends! God bless each of you! And I am praying a special blessing for you Miss Lizzy! Hope you have a wonderful 16th birthday!!

LO

Ahoy 'Mon!

Ahoy from the high seas! Well, Hank and I are exhausted after another long, but lovely ,day at sea! Snorkeling was a blast!!! Thought at any moment I may see Sponge Bob jump out from the coral reef. Lol Rainbow Fish, Blue Fish, and many other tropical fish were swimming right there close enough for us to reach out and touch them. Amazing! The water here in the Bahamas is truly a turquoise blue and very clear. Paradise! Well, I thought I would die on board the first night. We got settled in our state room , went to Third Day Concert by the pool, made dinner plans, and then it happened….the boat actually started MOVING! Rocking was more like it. The captain (I like to refer to him as Captain Stubbing personally) had warned us the waters would be a little choppy until midnight…but oh my word!!! I have never once suffered from motion sickness of any kind but …OH ME!! First time for everything. Somehow, I managed to freshen up my makeup and actually walk down two flights of stairs to the deck that our dinner was being served on. The line was rather long as we all waited for the doors to the Moonlight Dinning Room to open for the 8:OO pm reservations. Just know , the last thing in this world I felt like doing was eating…gross…but a lady in line beside me had convinced me that eating bread would help my feelings out greatly. So….Hank sent me to sit down on this centerpiece made of marble while he stood in line for the both of us. How ironic—Hank is always the one that gets any kind of motion sickness! ALWAYS! Thank goodness he had a nausea patch on so he wouldn’t get sick. He had offered me one before we boarded the ship but assured him I would be fine. “Pride goes before the fall” Lol Well, I was sooo wrong! I sat on that cool slab of marble and was feeling some better. Then I heard singing. (Duhhh…It’s a music boat cruise) But….this was not expected but was however the cherry on top of the entire day. An Asian band was singing in the lobby while we waited on our dinner doors to open.{ I felt like I was in A Christmas Story for a minute.} You know when the Christmas dinner gets ruined and they eat Chinese and they sing “Deck the Halls”…well, yep. Not only am I on my death bed turning green on a cold hunk of marble--but I am listening to an Asian lady sing “ Proud Mary”! I thought surely I was going to pass and Hank would just have to throw me overboard. Well, finally , the time came to enter the dinning room and true, the bread saved my life!!! We ate with a lovely couple from North Carolina and enjoyed our dinning experience immensely. However, leaving the dinner we noticed the girl had stopped singing and now an Asian man was singing. “Don’t tell my heart, my rakey , rakey heart….” Please…that was just too funny!!! Off to a late Denver and the Mile High Orchestra concert then off to bed! (LOVED THEM) After a wonderful nights sleep, we woke up ready for a fun day in Nassau, which we did have!!!Snorkeling was an absolute blast! After dinner, we listened to baseball player Josh Hamilton share his journey with the Lord and how God uses him in his profession in ways he never imagined he’d ever be used. I am not a real sports fan but I love hearing anyone, especially people with some fame, discuss how Jesus changed them and now works in their life because they’ve surrendered all to Him! We were about to turn in and as we walked by another lounge we noticed it filling up rather quickly. That is when I saw her---Mandisa. I was really glad to finally she she’d made it to the ship. (she flew in and met us in Nassau) I went over and introduced myself and told her how real she seemed— and how the love of Jesus just shows all over her. I also told her how Houston, Ms had voted many , many times for her while she was on Idol.(However- my husband wasn’t much help because that’s the same year he developed his man crush was on Blake Lewis -lol) We talked a bit about when she did praise team music for Beth Moore’s Living Proof Ministries .She said during the Idol competition she did the sign that we all memorized ….sign language meaning I’m believing God!! That prompted the two of us into a high five!!! I then told her I sure would like to hang out with her! Well, we have a few more days.{commercial…’Like sands through the hourglass..so are the Days of our Lives—ok new day} Today was beautiful , so Hank and I took a ferry to the CocoCay Island, “ Mon” NOTE TO FAMILY….HANK’S GOT A NEW WORD!!!! For now—it’s “Mon” . Prepare yourselves!! Lol Oh me….I just love him though. We are really having fun. An island band played the entire day as we shopped, ate, shopped, drank, shopped , laid out, and shopped. The group 4 Him had their chairs just beside us! They were funny! Tonight we went to hear Dave Nasser and Mandisa perform then off to dinner. My girl sang “Shackles”…OH ME!!!!!!!After that we heard a George W. Bush impersonator! HILARIOUS!!! He was a hoot! Then it was off to the pool deck to Premier Cruise Idol. I was standing just behind the judges. Mandisa, Third Day lead singer, and Dave Nasser. Of course the battery in my camera died! Never fails! Oh well, we had a really good time! It’s late now and people are still scattered around the ship. Hank was sleepy but I wasn’t ready just yet to turn in. It is way after mid night and I am on the promenade deck in a lawn chair listening to the waves rush beside this massive ship.(Oh ‘the promenade deck’ sounds so much like the Love Boat doesn’t it?) I am in total awe of the beauty I have seen this week. This afternoon, Hank and I watched the sun set from sitting on the back of the ship! At some point, just before the sun gave up it’s glow, for a brief moment…the reflection that the sun cast was a glowing, perfect cross. OH MY IT WAS LOVELY!! This is a new beauty for me. Now I am not a “beach girl” for sure…but I do love the ocean! Love the beach but don’t like to sunbathe or deal with sand grit. I don’t like to play in the beach or ocean but I love it!! The only thing I can say when I see it’s beauty is…WOW GOD!!! How could you think any other way. The name of our ship is Majesty of the Sea. Well, they can call it that if they’d like but that is all I can think of when I look out across the water! HE is THE MAJESTY of the sea! Where is seems to have no end I softly hear in my heart… “as far as east is from the west I’ll remember your sin no more.” Looking out, it’s pitch dark but the stars are like little diamonds. God is such an amazing and majestic God! I was also reminded of that when the dolphins swam along the side our sailboat the other day and as we snorkeled, God really made it all!! He cares about every single detail of this universe and everything does glorify Him. This afternoon ,Bello Nock, a former clown from Ringling Brothers circus, broke a world’s record by walking the tight rope across the length of the 11th deck! (WOW) While he walked ,he had praise music in the background. When “I Stand in Awe of You” began to play...I thought ‘now that says it all’! In a nutshell…I am standing in total awe of God!!! He’s everywhere I look!! Sure, musicians and speakers are great…but God’s creation is what has spoken to me the most here. The waves make me feel as if I am being rocked to sleep by my daddy…you know, I am. The wind is a love song to my soul reminding me I am His and I am loved! Well, just now I am realizing how sleepy I am , so I’d better go back to my cabin and get some sleep! ( sure hope I remember how to get there—Just kidding—well sort of anyway) I know tomorrow God has even more blessings in store for us, and I certainly don’t want to miss a thing!! That’s all I know for now….but I am learning more every single day!!! Hope you all have a blessed day—‘Mon’!

LO

Just Flying Around With God

Hank and I are sitting in the Memphis airport because our plane has been delayed for 2 hours. We should have known when we stopped at Starbucks and the total was $6.66. MERCY! There should be a rule to automatically up the amount up one cent in a case like that. Ya think? We boarded our plane and waited only to be informed there was a problem getting fuel into one engine because the handle broke.(That’s just what I wanted to hear) But wait—there’s more! After we got off the plane, within minutes , we were told to board back onto the plane—ONLY TO WAIT!!! Again, we were informed of the same problem they never had fixed and were told to get off for the second time! Well, our obstacle course in getting here began long before we actually ended up here. Weeks ago, Hank had been for his annual check-up at our family doctor’s office for insurance purposes.(pretty routine) Well, the outcome wasn’t pretty routine. He was told he had high cholesterol and high blood pressure and was immediately written a medication for both. That weekend he and I were out of town on a weekend retreat and by Saturday night, he was having a definite reaction to the meds. Well, after that scare, he was told when he reported back to the doc to stop usage at once and they would try to find meds more suitable for his system. Well, as if that weren’t enough, he then developed gout in his elbow! Bless him!! So…he battled that and then I got a really bad sinus infection.(listen closely and you may hear the actual violins in the background) Yesterday ,Hank took me to get a shot and a z pack before we left for South Haven to spend the night with his brother. Thought we would save time by staying overnight…HA HA!(Ahem…delayed flight) Well, so glad we stayed with Ryan though.(like I knew I was even there because I was stoned on prescription cough syrup!!) Hank also took me to get a spray tan after we left the doctor’s office so…I had on his pj bottoms, a zip-up sweat jacket, house shoes, and no make up on. Everyone knows you just can’t put on regular clothes after a spray tan , so I had to wear loose clothing. I know I was not really feeling up to getting that spray tan, but there was NO WAY I was going to the Bahamas looking like an Irishman.( or Irishwoman should I say) As my friend Tammy told me once, “Dark fat looks better than white fat”! So…fever or no fever…. I got sprayed!!! Now, we are waiting. Hey, but on our on board/off board experience, we met the couple across the aisle from us. They are from Arkansas and are too going to Bahamas on the same cruise ship as us.{ PRETEND IT’S A COMMERCIAL HERE..A DAYS OF OUR LIVES PROMO WOULD WORK FOR ME} Well, I now return to you from 35,000 feet in the air!!! Yes folks, we FINALLY are in the air! Hank just said, “This is a new high for ‘LO’”! I think that’s clever. Well, anyway, we are in the sky and I have my laptop, ipod, and diet coke. Life is good! I’ll say it was interesting being stranded in the airport. People always just fascinate me. On the way out the first time, I realized I was sharing this flight with Dr. Watt Bishop…he was my orthodontist when I was in high school.( Of course I had to go speak to him.) Then, as we just sat there…I listened to the different conversations around me.(Me? Nosey? Why yes… maybe just a little) Some were talking of lunch plans, some were fussing about the delay, and some….I didn’t understand one single word they said! Felt like I was at the nail salon getting fake nails. Lol Hint: they don’t speak English very well to say the least! It just amazes me to see the variety of people God has created. The song I am listening to is a Billy Squire song called “Nobody Knows” . I love this song. Of course it was just one on a random album not ever made popular.( we are experiencing terrible turbulence…hope you all get chance to read this blog -lol)Man, this shaking of the plane just made me drop the complimentary peanuts down my shirt! Well.. anyway…. the song I was listening to talks about nobody really knows what’s going on inside in someone else. No one knows the dreams, fears, or insecurities we each experience. It goes on to say everybody has a place and time. “ We all have something that we care about and I propose that we find it out”. Now that is what Billy Squire says…a musician from the 80’s. But God’s word says in Jeremiah 29:11 “for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not to harm you, to bring you a hope and a future.” Man that God is good!!! I feel much better hearing that quote from Him rather from some song that Billy Squire sang. (no offence Billy -but…..) I’ll admit , flying around the friendly skies…that scripture takes on a whole new meaning!! I do love how I can leave all I am in God’s hands and He is such a God of order and perfect love that I can trust him with my past, present, and future.(and flight) It’s all time to Him!!(oooo…He’s shaking the plane around just to make sure He has my attention) The answerer is “Yes Sir, Lord…I’m all ears, eyes, and everything else You’d have me be”! I brought my computer bag as my carry-on and stuck few items of clothing in just in case they lost my luggage.(and I’d have fresh clothes to shop for new clothes with the voucher I’d get from airline.) And I am so glad I did stick extra underwear in there because I am going to pee in my pants the next big shake of the plane.(sorry I said pee on my blog Mama) OH ME!!! Anyone that knows me well knows this is so true about me though! Lol Well, I know I have watched too many movies. Airplane, Snakes on a Plane, all Airplane movies from 70’s –you know those---when they barely land the plane…. You get the picture. Come to think of it, a swig of my cough syrup may have been a good idea for this flight! Lol Really, the view is breathtakingly beautiful and it reminds me of how tiny we all are. Even the earth is too actually. In this flight, we have a oil rig worker, sales rep, orthodontist, and a nail tech that I know for sure. Many different people with a variety of backgrounds, world and religious views…just all different in general. But…God created each of us. Like it or not….we really are all equal. Not one is more or less significant in God’s eyes. Yes.. “ He’s got the whole world, in His hands, He’s got the whole world, in His hands, He’s got the whole world, in His hands, He’s got the whole world in His hands”. Well, I can bet it He can hold us all in His hands, imaging what else He can do. Talk about a shoulder to lean on….WOW!!! I am thankful He loves me and is holding me close. Even those times I hurt so bad I wanted to blame Him because everyone else seemed to be blaming me. He has loved me when I bucked Him, ran from Him, and kicked and screamed while digging my heels into the ground only to find out God was smiling saying, “oh yes you will, Lori”. Through all my brokenness and hard headedness, I am so thankful he chose to love me “Through It All”—HE LOVED ME AND STILL DOES!! Now there’s a song…Mr. Andre Crouch… “ If I never had a problem, how would I know He could solve them?” Amen!! “What a Mighty God We Serve” Well, whatever you find yourself doing this week, notice what and who you are around you. This very well may be part of God’s plan. Yep, even a “random” trip to Wal Mart may be a mission He has sent you on that only YOU can do. Listen to him. Let Him be your pilot. I know I am SOOOOO thankful, along with the other passengers, that I am not flying this plane! Well, living on our own is almost as silly as me flying this plane. Let’s all remember to let THE PILOT fly our plane. He knows the correct pressure our gages we need for our flight to be a success, the right amount of fuel we need to get there(and how to fix any leaks we may not even know about to arrive safely to our destination) , and can not only get us to our precise designation, but see that we land safely! Now, we can not ask for more than that. So, thank Him now and then move out of His way and let’s let Him be God and Lord of our lives! Well, it’s time for me to pack up my laptop and I had best go take a potty break before we hit another air pocket or ‘Lo’s going to blow!’ Remember, Hank is sitting beside me and his humor is infectious! Besides, this is all I know for now!!

LO