A Big Thumbs Up – All is Well!

That fiasco last week of trying to find a replacement for my daughter's peace sign hand that I accidentally broke, led me to this “thumbs-up hand”. Of course, I had to buy it for sweet memories’ sake. In this photo, my husband was talking to our children shortly after surgery and giving them the "All is well -- thumbs up sign". From there, I went into wimpy-mode, shedding a few tears, as I pulled out the album I made him for his 60th birthday, and saw the words our children and close friends and family wrote to him. Perfect timing because today is that sweet man’s birthday. Please indulge me as I remember the love of my life in the letter I gave him on that 60th birthday. He might be looking on as I share this with you today. I hope so because I still mean every word. I'm sure he'll also be running with our son, Ryan, as he runs his "virtual" Boston Marathon today:

My Sweetheart......Happy Birthday!
It is difficult to put my thoughts around the notion that you are 60-years old. How can that be? I still remember feasting my eyes on that good looking, dark-haired boy in the choir. Little did I realize that he would one day be mine. All I can say to that is "God bless the day I found you!"
I hope you know how much you are loved, honored, respected, and admired by everyone. This is a time of celebrating a man that has made his mark on so many lives, the least of whom is ME! I am more today than I could have ever dreamed possible because of you -- your relentless pushing and encouraging me to be all I could be. You have always made me feel like a sexy, voluptuous, and beautiful woman. When I didn't believe in myself -- you believed in me! I am so thankful for the amazing husband, father, and grandfather that you are. You have always given of yourself so freely to so many. I will never forget the precious, caring and giving way you treated my mom. You always made her feel like a queen. You went above and beyond in the love you had for my family -- you not only opened the door to them, but you fed them, clothed them and gave them truly the Father's love. You really are a replica of Christ's love. There are so many adjectives for this man named "Ronald Wuerch" and so many reasons why I celebrate your life of 60 years, but here are just a few. I love Ronald because.....
• He plays the piano and sings so beautifully
• He can build a house from ground up and make it a home for many
• He can fly an airplane
• He can fix anything
• He has so much wisdom and creativity
• He is a gifted storyteller
• He is a great fisherman and campfire builder
• He cooks great spaghetti
• He is the world's best masseuse
• He helps around the house
• He is so giving to those in need
• He is so thoughtful and romantic, and always holds my hand in public.
• He never makes me feel bad about an impulse purchase
• He is my greatest cheerleader
• He sees the good in everyone and has led our family in the optimistic, positive faith message of God’s Word that has caused ultimate success in each of our lives.
• He is really my best friend, lover, confidante, my hero, and the love of my life. I cannot imagine living one day without him.
• And there's not enough room here to continue with all that you are to me......but I want you to know that I wish you dreams come true, desires fulfilled and blessings beyond what you could ask or think.......because, my Love, you deserve it all!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY DARLING!
Love, Donna

Take Heart, Brothers & Sisters, All is Well

How do I know all is well? It is a deep, inner knowing that God has got this. God has got us. I'm back at home and this sunrise on Tuesday assured me "all is well". I could almost hear these words audibly "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful." (John 14:27) All is well!

It’s a brand new day with potential and possibilities! It’s a brand new day to posture ourselves with a can-do-anything, all-is-well mindset. We can purposely leave the remains of yesterday behind with an optimistic "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me" (Phil 4:13) attitude for this new day. When we slip on our houseshoes or athletic shoes or even go barefoot and step out on our back porch, our patio or our sidewalk, we can inhale this new day with faith and determination. If we listen closely, we'll hear those words again that give us new hope for this brand new day. "All is well."

In real time, we may feel like the weight of the world is on our shoulders, but take heart -- all is well. If God be OUR Almighty God, our supreme authority and our all-knowing, all loving, omnicient One, then we must make the decision to believe it and trust Him.

We are in good company. The Bible goes to great lengths to show us that all the people on its pages were ordinary, average "Joes". Yes, let's look at two Joes: 1) Joseph, the youngest of ornery, jealous brothers and the beloved son of his father, Jacob. This "Joe" took heart. In spite of a pit and a prison, he succeeded to a palace when he became the Governor of the land and ultimately took care of his entire family. 2) Another "Joe" -- Joseph, the adopted father of Jesus who could have divorced his pregnant fiancee, but instead, took heart, and stayed to love and care for Mary and Jesus. So many other characters in the Bible who trusted even though they were drenched in fear and hopelessness.

Many others in the Bible took heart and conquered because God filled them up with His Holy Spirit and breathed life into their dreams and their plans, and God, through ordinary people who did ordinary things, made miracles happen that changed the world for good. And, WE are the Bible people of today in these times and the same Holy Spirit breathes life into our dreams and our hopes and our plans so that we too will accomplish great things..

Take heart, brothers and sisters! All is well. Breathe deeply. Do your part. Fight the good fight. Offer grace. Love. Work for justice. Move with mercy. Be kind. Keep your focus. Keep moving forward. Keep looking up. Keep offering up every little thing in your ordinary life to the God of good things and miracles and hope.

God Help Me! My Routine Went AWOL!

Routine: sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed program, practice, pattern, regimen, plan, habits, schedule

My routine, first thing each morning, is to send a text message to my children, and my sister-in-law. Just a few love words to let them know that I was thinking about them and praying for them. My next morning routine is to go to my office and tap the SEND icon on my Facebook post and PUBLISH on my blog post. Then I quickly scan some of my friends’ activity on FB. Yesterday, I was shocked to see that my wonderful Tulsa dentist, Dr. Mark Tiernan, had passed away. Dr. Mark was a dear friend, amazing and fearless man of integrity and honor, missionary to nations to give his love away while providing his dental skills to those in need and precious man of God. Heaven just got sweeter.

My next routine is to make my way to the fitness center. I sat down at the stationary bike, inserted my ear plugs and turned on the TV. I should have avoided the news, the bickering and the sensational soundbites. I saw Mark Zuckerburg (Facebook’s creator) giving testimony to Congress about the data breaches that have made global headlines in recent weeks. I hope Congress and Mark can figure it all out and get their ROUTINES fixed, because whatever was wrong, FB is my mission field.

It doesn’t take long to deal with my own emotions, hear personal news from family and friends, along with the daily news, that the weight of the world invades my mind. I returned home from my work out and I was bombarded with those weights – not from the gym, but the world. I began to do the ugly cry – for my friends, my family, my world AND ME! I was having one of THOSE mornings. My upbeat, joy-filled, press-on, unwavering, tenacious attitude AND ROUTINE was interrupted with a wave of doubt, unbelief and concern. I was drenched in a puddle of self-pity.

I rushed to my journal, another routine, and I began to write: “My feelings hurt! I’m too sensitive. I’m too fleshly. I'm weary. I feel so weak. Restore my soul, oh Lord. Renew a right spirit within me. Lord, PLEASE HELP ME!” I quickly went to another of my morning routines, my Bible and my devotional booklet. Up popped these scriptures from Psalm 34, and, soon, all was well.
~ “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall ever be in my mouth.”
~ "I sought the Lord and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears.”
~ “Look to Him that you may be radiant with joy and your faces may not blush with shame."
~ “Taste and see how good the Lord is; blessed the man who takes refuge in Him."

Thanks be to God. I could breathe again. I’m so thankful that the Bible goes to great lengths to show us that all the people on its pages were ordinary and average, doing one little thing after another, rooted in trust, grounded in good news, and drenched in fear or hopelessness. Even people like Moses, Noah, Abraham and Sarah had their weaknesses and made their missteps. The only one who rose above it all was Jesus. As for the rest of the people in all the stories of the Bible, God filled them up with His Holy Spirit and breathed life into their ROUTINES, their dreams and their plans, and God, through ordinary people who did ordinary things, made miracles happen that changed the world for good.

Maybe today, your ROUTINE is out of whack. You also long for the “all is well” state of being. Take heart, my friends. All IS well. We just need to keep breathing….deeply. We do our part. We fight the good fight. We keep looking up. We can count on God's ROUTINE...He is ALWAYS faithful.