I saw the unseen!! Incredible day!

Lord Jesus, going to a Children's hospital is not always my favorite thing to do.  #1, I'm there for a reason - there is something going on with one of my children and so therefore that is always reason for concern.  #2, the other families are there for a reason as well.  Many that you run into look very sick or their parents have the face that tells all.

At the same time it is a very tough trip, I am always brought to a very grateful place.  It is as if I am saying thank you in my mind the whole time I am walking from one room to the next knowing that the particular stages of sickness that are so visible in so many of the kids we have not entered into.  Thank you!!

Much like always, we didn't park in the most convenient location and had to do quite a bit of walking to get to our building.  Passing the patients outside still hooked up to all kinds of medicines AND smoking was something that Sarahjane could not understand.  "But mom, if a doctor is making them stay in the hospital, cant he make them not smoke too?"  I thought she had a very good point.

The further we got into our journey I began to think about each family represented.  This was the last place anyone would have ever chosen to spend even a small amount of time.  No one asks to be sick or even given something that is curable.  Sickness, in any form, is not something we as humans raise our hands to be chosen for.  BUT, i saw the unseen.  I really did - it was not visible, but I saw it!

¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Cor. 4:18


As i passed each family I allowed my mind to go to a place where there would be no sickness.  A place where no doctors would be needed.  A place where there would be no pain - no need to even draw blood.  A place where the sick would never cry again and those giving care would never cry as well.  


The Lord allowed me to envision Heaven and these precious lives walking, running, playing, singing, jumping, and even sitting.........at peace.  I quickly took my mind to a scene in Heaven when some day when both my dad and I will meet up on the corner of Gold Street and run to worship the Lord Jesus.  He will hold my hand with his left hand that will be fully functioning and we will together RUN to the Father as fast as we can - no cane, no delays, PERFECT.  


For now I saw the unseen.  But someday I will see AND experience the unseen all at the same time. I pray for those families that are living in the seen, that have no hope of the unseen.  I pray they come to find the hope that will help them make it until they see the unseen!  Lord, may they come to know the one that freely gave His blood once and for all.  May they all come to know and trust The Doctor!  May we fix our eyes on You!  I love you Savior!  


PS - Update on Sarahjane - the doctors are running more tests on her thyroid.  They also are doing a test to find out what stage of growth her bones are in.  All in all - the doctor had no serious concerns.  Praise You Lord!!  

848 - Wrong Perspective

"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears,^{a]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]}we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 1 John 3:2

Good morning Jesus, This is almost our first real day of summer. The kids are out of school all day today, but do have to go back to get report cards tomorrow morning. So I am thinking Friday will be our first real day off for the summer break. I am excited for all we are going to do this summer. It will be fast and furious, but exciting too!

Lord, so often I wish my first inclination was Godly and one that considered Your ways or Your perspective. But all too often my first reaction and thoughts are about me and how it can benefit me! Ugh!!

When I first read the verse above I immediately went to thoughts of myself. The Word says, "what we will be has not yet been made known". My brain thought back to that old sticker or even bumper sticker that reads, "be patient, God's not finished with me yet." Then my thoughts went right on to things of this life.

Here I am, 37, and God still has plans for my life, I just don't know what they are.

Here I am, 37, raising a family and doing life, but there is more?

Here I am, 37, seen many come to know the Lord, but there is more.

Here I am, 37, a bit overweight, but a better "bod" is on its way.

Here I am, 37, in ministry, but it could change.

The thoughts of my current life and how the Lord might make that look different, of course we usually dream in the positive, has nothing to do with the way the Lord intended this verse. WHY, you ask...........because I don't have an eternal perspective most of the time! Me, me, me, me, me!!!

This particular scripture is talking about how we will be made like Him when we see Him face to face. It is not so much the now and how the Lord will further enhance this particular life, but the then and when....when we meet Him in the air or face to face. "What we will be that has not been made known" is not what the rest of our life is about, but all the wonderful things of Christ that will be made perfect through Him when we meet Him and become as He intended!! Wow - now that is a perspective, heavenly one!

Jesus, help me to not dwell on the now so much. Help my eyes and mind to think of You first and have that perspective that is looking forward to meeting you face to face. Lord, I get so caught up in the now! I want to live with my eyes toward you! I love you - amen!

659 - I Am Going Home

I Am Going Home

I miss home. There is no other way to cut it, but I miss home. I miss having the conveniences of a big city. I miss having too many friends that I don’t know which one to call during the day. I miss my aerobic classes and workout center at my home church. I miss my kids having Christian education. I miss the long, long seasons of North Carolina. I miss not ever having to worry about losing a cell phone call because there is no tower. Again, I miss home.

No, I am not having a down moment or depressing time, I just miss home. I lived in Charlotte, NC for 12 years and it is the only place I call home. I have no family there, no distant relative, no house still there, and no bank account. But still I miss the place I call home.

In Charlotte every Thanksgiving, Clay and I would house anywhere from 5 to 10 kids from the Naval Academy. Most of these kids lived too far away from the Academy and had to go somewhere during the break. So a small group came to our house to stay during the night, but worked at Samaritan’s Purse for Operation Christmas Child during the day. Obviously these were extraordinary kids. Nevertheless, they missed home.

If there is one thing I do know in my 35 years of life it is that this is not my home. Even Charlotte, NC, the place I call home, is not my home. What we are living in now is not home. Our time here on this earth is but a fleeting moment in the whole scheme of things. Yes, many of us see only the here and now and I too can get very, very caught up in this here and now, but it truly is temporal.

He is preparing us a place. I think God gives us glimpses of our real home here on earth. When you go into a store and Christian music is playing. When you see others praying before a meal. When you see kids playing together without fussing. When you see a husband and wife still enjoying each other. When you see an honest person put others before himself. When you see the church as a whole praising together and worshipping our Savior. This I just a morsel of what the real home will be.

The thing I am most excited about, of course other than seeing my Jesus, is being completely understood. There will be no more – She has gone off the deep end. No more – Can she just chill out for a bit? No more – Isn’t she just precious. No more – Why must you be so different? No more – Do you have to be so devoted? And certainly no more – Do you have to be so serious… your kids might catch on?

We are all going home one day. Where will you call home? “But store up for yourself treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matt. 6:20-21