My First Line of Defense

Part of my training at Children's Hospital included knowing the “first line of defense” in case of fire or other emergencies. Knowing where the fire pulls and extinguishers are, as well as knowing the color codes and alerts in case of security issues.

In my personal life, I’ve also come to learn my absolute first line of defense when I’m faced with words that shake me to my core. I’ve heard: “Your daughter is diagnosed with cystic fibrosis!“ “Our house is on fire!” “Your mother only has hours to live!” “He was in a car accident!” "Your husband has Stage 4 cancer!” I wish that my first line of defense in all those instances had been “I will not be afraid. I believe that God has me and He will work all things for good!”

A great lesson came from one of my favorite Bible stories from Mark 5:35-36. It speaks of Jairus, a synagogue leader, who came to Jesus begging him to go with him to heal his daughter who was dying. As Jesus was going with him, some people from Jairus' house came saying “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher any more?” Here’s my favorite line (the first line of defense) from Jesus to Jairus when He overheard their words: “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” I can even visualize that setting -- Jesus putting one hand up (“STOP -- don’t think!”) and the other hand with a finger up to his lips (“Shush -- don’t speak!”)

“Why bother?” Isn’t that what the naysayers and doubters say and isn’t that what the enemy of our souls wants us to say? It’s the whisper we hear when the bad news comes. "Give up. It’s Hopeless. I’m afraid. I can’t take this. I can't handle it alone."

Two little words change everything. “But Jesus.” He has a different message, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Don’t give up or let go of hope. Jesus is the Giver of life and it’s not finished until He says so. He took her by the hand and said: "Little girl, I say to you, get up!”. The girl stood up and began to walk around” (Mark 5:41-42).

Above, I quoted lines from “my story”. “Your daughter has cystic fibrosis!“ But Jesus -- that little girl was dramatically healed, has a 5-½ octave vocal range and daily lives to give the good news of Jesus. “Our house is on fire!” But Jesus -- those were words our daughter cried out to us when their home was burning. They were all safe, their insurance more than covered their losses, and rebuilt the home and have shared God's goodness to others. “Your mother only has hours to live!” But Jesus -- Mom recovered and lived a full life for another eight years. “He was in a car accident!” But Jesus -- our son survived what could have easily been a fatal car crash. “Your husband has Stage 4 cancer!” But Jesus -- gave him and me such peace that passed understanding throughout the journey, and he WAS healed when he graduated to heaven.

Jairus’ “little girl” was his “But Jesus” moment. What is your “little girl” today? What is your first line of defense when those riveting times come? My first line of defense is Jesus’ words “Do not be afraid. Only believe.” It's not over until He says "It's over!"

FEAR - False Evidence Appearing Real

Sure sounds like a headline in our news today, doesn't it? My husband gave this acronym to the word, “FEAR”, many years ago to our children when they were seeing and hearing” things” in their bedrooms at night. To them, it looked like and it sounded like a monster but in reality, it was only a coat on a hangar or the rumbling sounds of the refrigerator.

He also used that acronym when he was speaking to people about those dark shadows of defeat and discouragement that were looming over their lives, but in reality, those were the scare tactics of the enemy to make them think they were going to fail. False Evidence Appearing Real. I also remember when he’d encourage someone to consider applying for a job at a certain place. They did, and they got the job. He proved his point that FEAR about tomorrow was getting them no place, but putting muscle to trust in our unfailing God makes “all things possible” and causes FEAR to flee.

My two young grandsons asked me to tell them the "cat and Papa" story again. Believe me, they’ll be telling their kids this story one day. Here’s the story:

Our daughter, Staci, was the guest speaker for a Mary Kay Annual Convention in Nashville. We had a few minutes to spare so we walked to a little shop nearby, and this little "fake" kitten caught my eye. I wanted it for a companion to the ceramic dog we had. When the kids were younger we always had cats and dogs around, but the day came when the kids left home, and so did the pets. These little imitation ones suited us just fine -- no responsibilities of feeding, watering or cleaning.

We drove home from Nashville (back then I was her travel companion and we toured the country doing conferences, meetings, and concerts in our custom high-top van). We could drive for hours because when one of us was driving, the other was sleeping on the bed in the back. We made it to Tulsa about 3 a.m. and put the cat on the chair beside Ron's chair. We thought he'd love our new pet when he would come to the den in the morning. Later, when Staci and I awoke, he told us that he'd walked into the den, saw the cat and thought "Oh, those girls. They must have left the door open when they got in and that cat snuck in." He quietly closed the doors to the den and kitchen so he wouldn't wake the cat up, and then have to be chasing it throughout the house. He opened the back door so he could chase it outside. He went to the cat and "shushed" it to wake it up and with the spoon in his hand from stirring his coffee, touched the cat....nothing. Then he tapped it and it was hard. He knew it was an imitation. The visual of that story-- of him sneaking around the cat to not wake it up -- still makes me smile.

I still have that cat AND dog, to remind me that SOME THINGS are just not as they appear. Ron spoke about the acronym of FEAR again -- False Evidence Appearing Real. That cat stirred up concern in him -- he sure didn't want to be chasing it around the house -- like he had with birds that had come in through the fireplace before. But, thankfully -- that cat was false evidence -- it only appeared real!

How many times do we worry and concern ourselves with things that aren't real? If we had kept a journal of those worries, and reviewed our journal a year later, we'd see things that were worrying us or causing us fear that never came to pass. With trusting in Him who is the REAL DEAL -- fear doesn't have to consume us and neither should we give it the time of day.

This scripture says it plainly: Isaiah 41:10 "Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand."

Now watch out for those fierce, violent little kittens that just might come and settle in for a long night's nap!

BE the EYE of the Storm

I remember my 7th grade science class enough to know about the "eye" of the storm -- that still, calm, quiet place in the middle of a storm. As I read the post I made 7 years ago during one of the greatest storms of our lives, I realized that God kept us in the "eye" of the storm throughout the storm. And that made me think about how we can actually BE the eye of the storm when we are present and in the middle of situations, conflicts, stresses, circumstances and controversies.

The closer we become to God, the more we'll take on His characteristics: peace, calm, love, joy, kindness, etc., and the more we'll be able to bring about all those characteristics in situations we may be in or encounter. So, if we represent His peace in the middle of chaos, then even our presence, can cause peace to come to the storm. The atmosphere of the storm can change simply because we are so calm and peaceful. I urge you to read this post that I made 7 years ago and see how He can make us the EYE of the storm around us.

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Dr. Whirlwind and Dr. Peace -- Relax. Trust Me. (July, 2010)
Seven years ago my sweetheart was taken to the hospital. We were in another "emergency" situation with his health.

We were faced with yet another major decision. Our primary Neurosurgeon (NS) was enjoying himself as he rode in the Tour de France. His partner was acting in his behalf -- handling our case. Unlike our Neurosurgeon, this NS was hyper, abrupt, negative, and sincerely lacked the "bedside manner" that we had been used to. When it appeared that Ron's kidneys were not functioning, when his legs were losing feeling, when a mileogram indicated that his spinal cord was being compressed, and when lab results were unfavorable, this NS said "I don't want to operate!!! I don't want to operate!!! But I will not have you go paralyzed under my watch, so I must operate! Tomorrow morning, we'll see what the lab reports say and then we'll operate if your kidney function numbers are better!! I'm posting NPO (no food or water) after midnight on your door! I'll see you in the morning" Whew!!! Whirlwind in……take a deep breath…..PEACE OUT!

It was then that I grabbed Karen's hand (Ron's sister) and said "Let's go for a walk around the hospital!" As we did, we prayed for God to encamp His angels around the hospital, for God's healing touch to Ron, for wisdom and knowledge to our medical team, and then, God gave us a sincere desire to see our stand-in NS touched by God's love, to witness the Light of Jesus in us, and to experience the same peace that we were experiencing. As we made our 6th round, we noticed lying on the grass at the corner of the hospital grounds was a Mama cat and her baby. They watched us intently, and never flinched. Immediately, we could sense God saying to us "RELAX -- peace -- I am with you -- Trust Me!" We made our final and 7th round, and just as we had not seen the cats in rounds one to five, they were gone on the 7th, but those words resonated within us. We came back to the hospital room and Ron, Staci, our daughter and her husband, Larry, were singing and praising God for the answer we knew He would give us the next morning. We went to sleep that night, completely at peace, knowing that God would be orchestrating the plans for the next day.

Early, the next morning, we were awakened by the lab technicians to draw the blood for the lab tests. At 6:30 am, our stand-in NS (aka Dr. Whirlwind) came in the room exasperated, saying "I'm so upset! The labs are not in yet and I have a surgery at St. John's in 15 minutes. I have a full day of patients that I will have to reschedule. Let me check your legs. They appear stronger. I believe you're stable. So, are we going to operate or not?" Ron, so at peace, replied, "I don't think so; I think we'll wait until next week!" Then Ron shared about his Dad's healing of cancer and lived another 15 years. We watched Dr. Whirlwind calm down, relax and experience a few moments of peace -- even though he was late for his next surgery. I asked him if he liked his work. He said, "Yes, but I can't stop thinking about it -- at work or when not at work." I said, "Then you are a dedicated, gifted physician and, obviously, God called you to do what you do. We're going to pray that He gives you balance and that you find peace." To that, he let me hug him and, in a complete shift in demeanor, he gave us his best wishes, and peaceably removed the NPO sign off the door. Ron enjoyed a hearty breakfast. Later that day, the lab results came in. Ron's kidney functions were drastically improved, his legs were stronger and we relaxed in knowing that God would cradle us in His arms….until our primary NS would return to Tulsa.

When our NS, Dr. Tomacek aka Dr. "Peace", returned, he reviewed all the excitement we'd been through in his absence and gave us his optimistic expectations about the surgery he would do in a couple of days. He told us that while in France, he went to Notre Dame de Lourdes. He said he saw thousands of people coming there for healing, and he prayed for us. I told Ron, "I choose to believe that Doc received a healing touch so much so that when he operates on Thursday, that his hands which were touched by God, will impart that healing to you." I was bold enough to believe that God uses many different ways to bring healing to us.

The next night, my sister-in-law, Karen, and my dear friend, Sheila Michie, and I, took another march/walk around the hospital. With the same fervor, determination, and faith, we expected the same peace that carried us that far in our faith journey to carry us through that surgery and onto complete wholeness. We looked for the Mama Cat and her baby. They didn't show up, but we still heard the words "Relax. Trust Me." And we did.

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And, to you, today, my dear friends and family, I pray you not only encounter He who is our peace in the middle of the storms you are facing today, but that you BECOME the peace (the EYE of the storm) that settles the score.....John 14:27 “I’m leaving you at peace. I’m giving you my own peace. I’m not giving it to you as the world gives. So don’t let your hearts be troubled, and don’t be afraid."