And I Think to Myself....What a Wonderful World

It was our first morning home after being in the hospital the two weeks before. Our family had come over the night before and removed our king size bed from our bedroom. We spent our first night home – my Honey, on his new hospital air bed, and me, on a blow-up air mattress beside him…..that the air escaped from in the middle of the night. I added to my “To Do List” for the day….find a twin mattress set as soon as possible. Indeed we would be like Desi and Lucy in our twin beds – I was even contemplating dyeing my hair red.

I can’t even imagine all that must have been going on in my Honey’s head as he looked out our bedroom double windows that were open wide. What a special blessing it was that our bedroom windows faced the little lake that adjoined our back yard (the accompanying picture is that view). It was a beautiful morning. Fall was in the air. The water was smooth as glass, the fish were jumping, and the birds were chirping loudly. Feeling the serenity of the moment calmed us and made us very aware of how blessed we were and how thankful we had to be in spite of our new circumstances that seemed like a bad dream. It was then that the doorbell rang. It was our new Social Worker, Melvin – a beautiful African American man, who exuded the sweetest and most gentle spirit that made us feel God had specially hand-picked him just for us. After asking us many questions, it was our turn to ask about him. When he mentioned that he loved singing in his church’s choir, I told him we'd love for him to sing for us. He didn’t wait to be asked twice. He immediately began singing in the most beautiful baritone voice, Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”. Just imagine our thoughts as we heard these words:

I see trees of green, red roses, too.
I see them bloom for me and you.
And I think to myself, “what a wonderful world”.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white,
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night.
And I think to myself, “what a wonderful world”.

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky,
Are also on the faces of people going by,
I see friends shaking hands, saying "How do you do?"
They're really saying "I love you"

I hear babies cry, I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself, “what a wonderful world”.
Yes I think to myself, “what a wonderful world”.

How befitting to hear such words as we had already been sensing that wonderful world as we looked outside at God’s creation, on this, our first morning home. It was another one of those precious times when we knew God was orchestrating our lives.

Right from the beginning of our journey until that day, different ones had quoted Psalm 46:10 to us “Be still and know that I am God.”. In our efforts to help God out with His plans over those previous eight months, we became very busy with many doctors’ appointments, treatments, medications, consultations, surgeries, seeking advice from experts on what to eat or not eat, and so much more. Suddenly, in the quietness of our bedroom, we realized that God was speaking loud and clear to us. He was saying…..”at last….you’re still…now you will know that indeed I AM GOD.” A dear family friend and renown motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, put it this way: “God created us as human beings...not human doings.” We had been “doing” much more than required. Now, we had the opportunity to BE in that place where we really could know God and His character and His profound love for us. We ceased striving and were now pursuing that place of contentment and peace. And in that place, we were expecting that we would be able to accomplish more for God and be used by Him to encourage and help others even more than we did before. That was our hope and greatest desire.

After two weeks at home, my Honey amazed me with his new found way of life. Amazing, in that that highly energetic, multi-talented, could-do-anything, man was always known as a Type A personality – in control with everything about his life, detailed to the inth degree, and was always motivating and encouraging others with the words “no matter what your circumstances are, you can be all God destined you to be….just never give up!” Now he quietly laid in his bed, unable to move his legs and unable to sit up. He occasionally picked up the phone to make or receive a call, check his emails, prayed, listened for God’s voice and called upon me or another to fetch something for him or to adjust his position in the bed. He didn't complain about his new “state” of living. We looked back on the previous nine months of that year when he suffered so much from the pain in his back – pain that was only resolved from strong medications and having to bend over or lie down to cope. Now, though he was obviously bed confined, he wasn't suffering. He looked great – had maintained his weight -- in fact, he “grazed” all day long. God had been so faithful to us in so many practical ways and we recognizedmany of those ways by dear family and friends who were providing such love and care through delicious, homemade meals (our freezer was packed full of food), ran errands for us, and even to the extent that our niece, who would be taking her Licensed Practical Nurse test the next month, had been able to help us with Ron’s care when I had to leave him for a brief period of time.

We absolutely knew that there was a “reason for that season” of our lives. We knew that none of this was a surprise to God. We knew that God was a proud Father that had a plan, a destiny, and a purpose that He specifically designed for each of us to fulfill. We knew that our busy lifestyle had changed and our sovereign God knew what was best for us. We knew God's unfailing love and faithfulness to us like never before. We were not moved by the circumstances we were seeing. We continued to be steadfast, unmovable and unshakened….and were convinced that we were in God's hands and on track in His best plans. Just a month later, my sweetheart was completely made whole. He got to go home -- no hospital beds there -- no pain there -- just a perfect, whole body.

And here on this side.....I still sing and say to myself. "What a wonderful world…what a wonderful God….what a wonderful life!”

Good and I'm Working on the Pretty

Day 229 of Photo Inspirations -- Good and I'm Working on the Pretty!
A sweet friend of mine, who is an oncology nurse, is all about bringing sunshine into the world.  Not only does she work at her nursing job, but she volunteers as an usher at her church, she is a volunteer at a charitable organization that is truly a "back-up resource" for families who have a loved one dealing with cancer, and if that's not enough.....she goes to hospice facilities to cheer up the families and their loved ones.  I couldn't resist sharing the following story with you.  It touched me so much.

Jodi was visiting hospice facility a few weeks ago.  A 93 year old man was sitting on the porch and she greeted him as she walked up.  She said, "How are you doing?" He said, "Good -- and I'm working on the Pretty!"   She said he was a delight.  She sat down with him and carried on conversation.  Eventually he said he was hungry and would love a hamburger. She told him she'd go get him one.  (There wasn't a question about whether it was good for him or not -- she knew her attention to him WAS good for him.)  She came back with the hamburger and a strawberry shake and the dear man had a chair pulled up right next to him for Jodi to sit by him.  Jodi said he ate every bite and drank all the shake and spent over two hours with him.  Jodi was beaming as she told me this story.  The sweet man passed away a few days later.

What makes someone go the extra mile to bring a ray of sunshine into someone's life?  Especially when that someone is close to leaving this world anyway.  What difference does it make?  Here's the difference:  Jodi was serving a sweet man that was getting ready to leave this world.  I told her she was his midwife -- giving him a sweet, comfortable and beautiful time as he was transitioning to "going home".  But, more than the sacrifice of her time for this sweet man, this was about Jodi.  She was so grateful for these two hours.  Helping others makes us see what we have.....and makes us even more grateful for it.  Helping others makes us happy.  There is so much joy in giving.  She was grateful: when you help others it makes you see what you have and makes you more thankful for it  Jodi's acts of kindness are seed planting times.  She is already enjoying the harvest of her acts as she experiences such overflowing joy and happiness.

What difference does it make?  Maybe the solution to complacency, boredom, loneliness and sadness is to find some-one or some-place where we can make a difference in someone's life today.  It just might be the last act of kindness they will receive, but it will be an act of kindness that will change us FOREVER.

Peace, Sweet Peace -- Priceless

It is possible to have peace when storms are raging around us. I know, because I've experienced that peace. When "they" say "no more hope", there's the temptation to retreat, and to run for the storm shelter. We were no storm chasers, but we did know how to outwit the storm. This is the day we were told "no more hope, call in Hospice".

My husband’s name, Ronald, means “mighty wise ruler”. He lived up to that title as he was always in some form of leadership – guiding and directing business and ministry endeavors. Though we never expected our faith journey to lead us to that day, we still had the confidence that we were in a place of divine destiny. Our all-knowing, all-seeing God, knew we would be there, and He prepared us by giving us so much peace for the journey. Two verses of scripture resonated within me. “IN EVERYTHING (even this experience), give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you.” (I Thessalonians 5:18) Everything -- means everything – IN this experience -- to give Him thanks. And the second scripture was St. Paul’s words, “whatever state I’m in, to be content.” (Philippians 4:11).

That morning,a dear friend brought communion to us. How sweet was the presence of our Lord as we remembered what He did for us on Calvary. And as we thanked God for His love to us, I looked at my sweetheart, lying in his hospital bed, unable to move his legs or sit up beyond a 30 degree angle – yet so at peace, so at rest in this “state” that he was in.

Then, that visual gave way to a whole new perspective. I thought about a king – how he sits on his throne and everyone, and everything, is at his beckoned command – he is fed, dressed, and given whatever he desires. I started picturing that hospital bed as a throne. Yes! That’s it! My Ronald – my mighty, wise ruler…is on his throne, being ministered to as any other king would be – his food is brought to him, he is fed, he is dressed, he is massaged, he is loved, respected and admired. Everyone wants to please and serve him. And his responsibilities were to be at peace, and listening to His King’s voice, and to pass on to us, his subjects, the wisdom of God that he heard, and I can't begin to tell you the wisdom that poured from him to us during those days. From the beginning of that faith journey, we heard the words "Be still and know that I am God". There we were -- my king was on his throne, and I was making every effort to be like "Mary" who sat at the feet of Jesus, instead of hustling and bustling like Martha did. There are no adequate words to explain the peace we were in.

Yes, we received the "hope-less" medical prognosis, but it didn't matter, we never wavered from the spot of believing for a miracle! At any given time, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if my Honey had gotten off his throne, fully healed, restored and saying, “How about going for a walk?” And as I read these words from my blog to him, he smiled at me and gave me a king’s “thumbs up”!

And, that, and this, my friends, is the way we experienced peace then, and that's how I continue to be in that peace today. "Him I will keep in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on ME." Isaiah 26:3.
Peace, sweet peace.....PRICELESS.