Wed, Jul 26th - 5:43PM

How TalkerCat Got Her Savior Back

I had a wonderful childhood ~ raised by a single parent.  My mother was a devoted mom and made sure that we three kids never knew we were poor.  I was saved at the age of 12 and baptized into a Baptist church.  My newfound Christianity was not nurtured however, so my passion for the Lord cooled.  I always knew I loved Jesus, but I wasn't "walking the walk".  I married quite young and settled into a life of work, housekeeping, work, husband, work, ...you get the picture.  We had wonderful, material things but God did not govern our life.  After over 15 years my husband decided that he preferred the single life and insisted on a divorce.  The break-up almost killed me, and I mean literally.  As I bounced from place to place trying to make up my mind where to live, I became an alcoholic  As soon as I moved into a place of my own, the drinking became heavier ~ there was no one else around to notice the quantity of vodka I consumed.  I worked two jobs to keep my head above water.  Gone was most of the material possession I'd worked so hard for before.  Now I spent my days eager for the time to come that I could get drunk.  I sometimes got drunk on my lunch hour.  On the weekends and days off, I would wake up to my morning cup of coffee and as soon as I'd finished it (I didn't eat breakfast), I'd open the vodka and begin my drunken haze . . . I was loaded by 10:00 AM

During this time my weight plummeted ~ I felt weak and lethargic.  I could barely pick my feet up off the ground to walk, instead I "shuffled".  I'd often talk to myself saying, "You're sick and pretty soon this will catch up with you" and then I'd drink my worries away.  It went on like this for a couple of years.  Then one day my mom thought it would be a great idea to become reaquainted with an old family friend.  We'd known this fellow for my entire lifetime (in fact, he'd met my mother when they were twelve years old and remembered her pregnancy with me).  Soon we were talking on the phone every night for hours at a time.  For a couple of months we talked and talked.  Then came the time we met in person.  The last time we'd seen each other I was a mere babe of 16 and he a grown man of 35.  Now I was 40-years old and battle weary.

It soon came to pass that I would relocate back to my hometown, where he was, so we could marry.  A few weeks after the big move I was planning a wedding and we were looking for a house.  I was getting weaker and weaker and wasn't able to hide it any more.  My mother and then-fiance became worried and insisted I see a doctor.  I was diagnosed with Diabetes and sent home.  That very night, I awoke in great pain.  My legs felt like they were on fire!  I screamed for an ambulance because I knew I couldn't walk.  The first hospital was not equipped to help me ~ I needed a vascular team.  So I was ambulanced to a larger facility 100 miles away.  The team of doctors there instantly knew that my legs needed to be amputated in order to save my life ~ I had blood clots, too many to count and one at least 4-feet long.  I was in so much pain and on so many drugs that I couldn't speak for myself, let alone pray.  But that didn't stop the chain of prayer warriors that came to my side!  Day after day, hundreds of people were praying for me.  Within 3 days I was told that only one leg needed to be amputated; after 5 days, they were able to save the other leg to just below the knee.  THE POWER OF PRAYER....

I spent 5 long weeks in the hospital.  Three months after my release, still bandaging and in incredible pain, Bill and I eloped (and that, my friends, is a different story).  My recovery was still ongoing when one day I suddenly lost my vision!  I wasn't sitting in total darkness, but my eyesight was like looking through wax paper ~ so I couldn't see.  I was diagnosed with Diabetic Retinopathy and was slowing going blind.  Oboy!  But by this time I'd started going to church.  I'd found a beautiful home church at Calvary Chapel.  I was beginning to read my Bible and learning what it is to truly be a Christian.  I began to pray.  The prayer chain that started with my illness the year before kicked into high gear.  Suffice to say, after 4 agonizing eye surgeries I got most of my vision restored!  THE POWER OF PRAYER!

Then in December, 2003 my father died.  A man I never knew.  A man I was grossly ashamed of because of his lifestyle.  I didn't know how to feel about his passing.  I felt guilty for not being mournful.  I prayed and prayed.  Soon I forgave my father for not being a dad.  I could finally honor him as my father.  THE POWER OF PRAYER!

Every day of my life I am blessed somehow.  Mostly in little ways.  Things I'd miss if I didn't see life through Christian eyes.  I've been through the war, but I won the battle and I'll follow Jesus for the rest of my days.  I have no earthly fortune, I'm disabled and retired at the ripe old age of 44; but I'd rather worship HIM from my wheelchair than have both legs and not know him at all.

Blessings ~

Sat, Jul 22nd - 4:45PM

PSA118

Mon, Jul 17th - 12:09AM

Stepping Stones

I'm a woman who takes the time to listen to, and then obey, the voice of God.  Every step I take is leading to somewhere.  No gesture is ever wasted.  No task performed is ever isolated.  No pain is ever meaningless.  Everywhere I place my foot is strategic, even though I may be unaware of its significance.  Solomon says so, "The upright are on a path that makes up a highway."

Satan's hightest agenda for God's children is to cause them to distrust.  If he can alienate our affection, he knows we will lose heart and abandon the way of faith.  One of the biggest lies is the one that says, "Things are hopeless.  This is a dead end.  You are trapped."  Oh, how well I know!  My leg was amputated in 2002 and shortly thereafter, I went blind.  I was depressed and felt abandoned.  Everywhere I looked I saw traps instead of doorways.  Then one day, as I lay dying and in Intensive Care I saw those lies for what they were; a smokescreen, a rude mirage.  Now, four years later I'm on a soapbox and I declare to you that each and every one of our trials is a doorway into glory.  I was shaken from hopelessness when I decided to embrace the truth, that God is never 'trapped' nor will He allow any obedient child to be.

Facing the conflict of my physical being and choosing to believe God over my own thoughts (and the thoughts from hell that assaulted me like arrows), I was freed from dispair and began living again.  Slowly I began to see that every pro-active step I took by faith, bore fruit.  Everywhere I place my foot leads me to another stepping stone related to my destiny.

It's true, the best of life awaits us.  I intend (unless God decides otherwise) to be an outrageous old lady who teaches others how to pray and live resiliently as a daughter of THE KING ~ God's daughter.  My voice may shake in my old age, but you'll still see an active old woman who loves to cook and nurture those I love.  I'll be surrounded by a bunch of fat, happy kitty cats and dogs that I'll rescue from shelters!  My dream is that God allow me to be a most unique "pied-piper" who leads others to His Kingdom and restores their faith in a God who is faithful.  May we all march on Heaven's Highway today, calling others from the sidelines to step into the path beside us; following in the footsteps of He who stilled the waters.  Our once isolated faith-walk becoming a banner-waving parade for the Glory of God.

"I laugh in joy over my destiny.  You're leading and it is a privilege to follow You.  Show me today's stepping stones.  In Jesus' Name ~ Amen"

Sat, Jul 8th - 4:28PM

All The Facts

"Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh.  Is there anything too hard for me?" .............. Jeremiah 32:27

The Babylonian armies had Jerusalem surrounded.  Resistance was futile.  Jeremiah the prophet had already warned the leaders that the city would fall.  Now he was sitting in prison for prophesying the truth.  Just as invasion was imminent, the Lord informed Jeremiah that one of his cousins was on his way to ask him to buy a piece of family property.  God commanded Jeremiah to fulfill his cousin's request (Jeremiah 32:7-8).

What a time to pay good money for land that would soon belong to the enemy!  All the known facts argued against the purchase.  But all the known facts are not all the facts.

Although puzzled, (v 25) Jeremiah trusted God and bought the property.  The Lord assured him that despite the bleak outlook, the people would again own "houses and fields and vineyards" in the land (v.15).

We often go through trying times.  Some believers endure persecution.  Others attempt to rebuild their lives after natural disasters.  Many of us live with disabilities and suffering.  The known facts are against us.  But God, [who came down in the person of Jesus], is on our side.  We have a hope that doesn't disappoint.  The known facts are not all the facts. 

All we've seen of God's provision teaches us to trust Him for what is unseen.

"TalkerCat"