Connecting the Dots

While we're waiting for our food to arrive at the restaurant, my youngest grandson and I enjoy playing "Connect the dots". I'm sure you've played it many times. Once upon a time, I let him win, but what in the world -- now he skunks me! Remember when we connected the numbers on a page by drawing lines to the next number and soon it unveiled a picture of something?

It's amusing to hear the latest phrases that are coined like "Let's connect the dots". It's used as a metaphor to illustrate an ability to find the "big picture". Yesterday my blog/post was about the action in the new Mission Impossible movie. It was because you never know what's going to happen next. It's what made the movie great. Twists and turns. Ups and downs. Victories and defeats. Fast-paced and, well, a few slowed paced times. But, ultimately, (Spoiler Alert!), the good guys win! The dots were connected and everything came together.

Here's the deal about connecting the dots of our lives. God is the One connecting our dots. We think "Why did that happen?" My most quoted scripture is this one that explains God's way of thinking about the "Whys" in our lives. Romans 8:28 "All things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose." Think about this:

~ Without Judas, the betrayer, there would have never been the death of Jesus on the cross and then be risen from the dead which leads to our salvation.
~ Without the pit and prison, Joseph would have never made it to the palace and receive the highest position of the land to spare His family -- the brothers that betrayed him.
~ Without the lion, the bear and the giant, David would never have become king.

And, what about you and me? What crisis or setback caused you to stretch and pray and ultimately arrive at your present situation that is the one you were hoping for or at least the one that opened the door to the next one? In my case, my husband's illness and passing created this desire and ability to blog and post daily. I started blogging to display our trust and faith in God during some tough times, but it led me to find a new passion and dream new dreams. In your case, it might be that the loss of your job, opened the door for a better job. The pain and suffering you've experienced might have led you to encourage others by using your tests as a testimony of God's amazing grace.

We don't have to know it all and understand everything about this race we're running. Instead of looking to the left or right, we just keep moving forward. We should never fight it if we don't like it. Our setbacks just might be the greatest comeback of all time. God is connecting all the dots for our good. And that last DOT is where it comes all together and we arrive at our ultimate destination -- to live forever with the original DOT MAKER!

Mission IMPOSSIBLE or Mission POSSIBLE?

As most know, I'm a Hallmark Movie kind-of-gal, but I still love an action thriller now and then. So, Sunday night I joined my family in their theater room to watch the last Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation movie. That prepped us to see the latest Mission Impossible - Fallout movie Monday night. Okay, I'm still reeling from two nights of fast-paced, sitting on the edge of my seat, enjoying the comedy relief moments when my son, Larry's laughs make me laugh louder -- not to mention the crazy stunts of Ethan Hunt, played by Tom Cruise. When I watched the movie, I knew that Ethan Hunt's stunts were always Tom Cruise doing those stunts. It's remarkable because, in this film, the stunts only got more difficult and Cruise is now 53. If you can stand the twists and turns, death-defying stunts and so many other surprises that are in it from beginning to end, you might want to see it.

No sooner does Ethan Hunt makes it through one crisis, than another crisis tops that one. When you think it's time for a little R&R, then comes the crazies out to get him. His greatest mission in life, besides preventing a disaster of epic proportions, is to stay alive. Spoiler alert! When I was starting to panic a little, Larry whispered, "Mom, this is Ethan Hunt -- He will survive!" No doubt, Ethan Hunt knows why he was put here on this planet.

Of course, I was inspired by that riveting 2-1/2 hour movie. But my inspiration for today's post comes from the title "Mission Impossible" -- which is definitely NOT what our Manufacturer equipped us with. Our MISSION is POSSIBLE because each of us has shown up on planet earth with our Manufacturer's LIFETIME, and beyond, guarantee. That is, those of us who acknowledge Him as our Creator and Lord. The guarantee says this: "Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a spokesperson to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5) In Psalm 139:16 we read "Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." God knows the beginning of our lives, the length of our lives and the plan for our lives. Our purpose is to dedicate ourselves to that mission and plan. 'We are ordinary people on an extraordinary mission to love and serve and help others to see the plan of God in their lives; to save them from the bad guys (the enemy of our souls). In the words of the voice in the box that will self-destruct in five seconds, "Do you accept this mission?"

For those of us who did accept the mission, we can verify -- it will give you the thrills, chills, ups and downs, challenges, victories, but more importantly the results are peace, joy, hope, love, and so many other promises that God gave us through Christ, Jesus in John 10:10 -- "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." The best part of this mission.....it never ends. It brings life everlasting!

My daughter, Staci Wallace, wrote the book "Mission: Possible", with the foreword by Zig Ziglar. It's her best-selling book that helps the reader to "unleash their full potential" as they discover "Why am I here?" Check it out here: https://www.staciwallace.com/store
Mission IMPOSSIBLE or Mission POSSIBLE?
As most know, I'm a Hallmark Movie kind-of-gal, but I still love an action thriller now and then. So, Sunday night I joined my family in their theater room to watch the last Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation movie. That prepped us to see the latest Mission Impossible: Fallout movie Monday night. Okay, I'm still reeling from two nights of fast-paced action, sitting on the edge of my seat, enjoying the comedy relief moments when my son, Larry's laughs make me laugh louder -- not to mention the crazy stunts of Ethan Hunt, played by Tom Cruise. When I watched the movie, I knew that Ethan Hunt's stunts were always Tom Cruise doing those stunts. It's remarkable because, in this film, the stunts only got more difficult and Cruise is now 53. If you can stand the twists and turns, death-defying stunts and so many other surprises, from beginning to end, you'll want to see it.

No sooner does Ethan Hunt makes it through one crisis, than another crisis tops that one. When you think it's time for a little R&R, then comes the crazies out to get him. His greatest mission in life, besides preventing a disaster of epic proportions, is to stay alive. Spoiler alert! When I was starting to panic a little, Larry whispered, "Mom, it's Ethan Hunt! He will survive!"

Of course, I was inspired by that riveting 2-1/2 hour movie. But my inspiration for today's post comes from the title "Mission: Impossible", which is definitely NOT how our Manufacturer equipped us. Ours is a Mission: Possible. Each of us showed up on planet earth with our Manufacturer's LIFETIME, and beyond, guarantee. That is, those of us who acknowledge Him as our Creator and Lord. The guarantee says this: "Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a spokesperson to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5). In Psalm 139:16 we read "Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." God knows the beginning of our lives, the length of our lives and the plan for our lives. Our purpose is to dedicate ourselves to that mission and plan. We are ordinary people on an extraordinary mission to love and serve and help others to see the plan of God in their lives; to save them from the bad guys (the enemy of our souls). In the words of the voice in the case that says it will self-destruct in five seconds, "Do you accept this mission?"

For those of us who did accept the mission, we can verify -- it will give you plenty of thrills, chills, ups and downs, challenges, victories, but more importantly the results are peace, joy, hope, love, and so many other promises that God gave us through Christ, Jesus in John 10:10 -- "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." The best part of this mission.....it never ends. It brings life everlasting!

My daughter, Staci Wallace, wrote the book "Mission: Possible", with the foreword by Zig Ziglar. It's her best-selling book that helps the reader to "unleash their full potential" as they discover "Why am I here?" Check it out here: https://www.staciwallace.com/store

Life is Like a Roller Coaster

Life is Like a Roller Coaster.
I’ve been enjoying the photos shared by FB friends that are having the times of their lives on their summer vacations. They didn’t waste a minute getting their summer fun on! Some have made trips to the mountains and others made their way to giant roller coaster mountains at theme parks.

While on OUR vacation last week, I heard the news that should make everyone who has ever been afraid to ride a roller coaster feel better. A power outage at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio left passengers on many rides stuck and a group of passengers was stranded on the Millennium Force Roller Coaster. And not just anywhere, but on the gigantic 300-foot-tall, record-setting hill. The park lost power when a car hit a utility pole. I heard a news commentator say “Aren’t we so thankful that it wasn’t one of those looping roller coasters and they got stuck upside down on the loop?” Thankfully, all the passengers survived with no injuries – but I can imagine there may have been some who threw up from utter fear and anxiety! It took over 45 minutes to restore power.

I've always loved the thrill of the craziest, wildest rides at amusement parks. Maybe that's why becoming a private pilot was no big deal for me. I wrote about that in one of my first blogs that shared the “roller coaster ride” faith journey that we were on.

For over 43 years, my husband, Ron, and I had many opportunities to encourage many people in their faith. We shared with many "When it comes to facing difficult situations in your life, just get on the roller coaster -- throw your hands up in the air, take the ups and downs and twists and turns.....and enjoy the ride!" Little did we realize when we shared that with others, we'd be getting on the "Big Kahuna" Roller Coaster, ourselves. Throughout my husband’s crusade against cancer, we remained constant in our faith. Each new day brought new hope AND new concerns. He’d make progress and then he’d have struggles. We found that with each doctor visit, test, treatment, and surgery (6), the ups and downs of it all, that God gave us new strength, encouragement, and peace.

We were on a roller coast. And we would climb, climb, climb and then encounter many twists and turns. It was tempting to get sweaty palms, white knuckles holding on so tight, but then, once again, we would remind ourselves, “God is in charge of the start and finish of this ride so we'll continue to throw our hands up in the air and enjoy this ride!" And, we did.

Life is a lot like a roller coaster and we will ride it with white knuckles and be holding on for dear life and sometime we may even feel like throwing up from all the twists and turns. Sometime we might even get stuck on an uphill climb. There will be other times when we will throw our hands up in the air, let the adrenaline give us the ride of our life and move into the twists, turns and ups and downs along the way. But, embracing the ride with a victory attitude will bring about the thrill of it all and at the end, we’ll yell “What a ride!”

A Roller Coaster Ride is Great....But Sometimes You Just Want to Throw Up!

Early on in my blogging I described our faith journey as a roller coaster ride -- twists and turns, and ups and down, and throwing our hands up in the air and enjoying the ride!! But, as a friend shared with recently….roller coaster rides make her want to throw up! And, I'll admit..I've had days like that recently. Just when we thought we'd made some progress, another "mechanical" difficulty causes our ride to come to a screeching halt and the "TEMPORARILY OUT OF ORDER" sign is put on the gate.

The above photo is of Ron a few weeks ago enjoying a ride on the jump seat of a Gulf Stream Jet, which we enjoyed traveling on with our son and his team as we flew to New York City to be a part of his company going public on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Indeed, we were flying high…and now, here we are….updating our blog from his hospital room again.

It’s been another faith-challenged, but faith-filled, week. Whew!! Wednesday night I rushed Ron to the E.R. at the Tulsa Spine & Specialty Hospital at the instructions of his neuro surgeon. He was experiencing excruciating, debilitating pain in his back (comparing it to a knife). Immediately they administered IVs, did blood tests, MRIs, CT scans and x-rays. The pain was so extreme they had to give him sedatives that put him out, literally, until Friday evening. On Thursday night he began running a fever of 104 degrees, and had a high white blood cell count, plus other factors that showed inflammation in his body. Today, we received the confirmed report that he has a serious staph infection that will require weeks of antibiotics via I.V. They expect to keep him here in the hospital through the end of next week. That is the immediate course of action. And, then there’s the other factor – we were suppose to have started chemo on Thursday, but this current challenge prohibited that, and the infection doctor says that chemo needs to be stalled until the infection is cleared up. Then there’s the oncologist that says the cancer is so fast moving that he must start the chemo as soon as possible.

Early on in this journey, we, as a family, agreed that Ron would be the "Pilot of this jet ride" and agreed that the decisions God led him to make regarding his own health course of action, would be the direction we would take. Little did we realize there might be times when we had to step in as the co-pilots, to make serious decisions for him. I’ll admit my vulnerability in the natural – just seeing this strong, man of action and power being in such a place, but as I watch him sleep, I continue to stand in faith and believe that “God is making him lie down in green pastures, leading him beside still waters to restore his soul and body”. I ultimately believe that God is working this all for our good, that there is an awesome Master Plan going on. It was such a testimony of that plan as the Infectious Disease doctor heard Ron, today, tell the story of his Dad's healing from cancer and then Ron declared "God is no respecter of persons" -- He can do that for me." Daily I declare my favorite scripture these days -- Psalms 118:17 -- "He will live and not die and will declare the works of our God." Actually, I’m going to start looking for a renown publisher very soon, to be able to support our best selling book on “Peace in the Midst of the Storm; Walking on the Water; Do Not Fear – Only Believe; God is Faithful; etc. etc. etc.” Please continue to pray for us, specifically, that this infection must bow to the name of Jesus and that the intended purposes of the medications are successful and the side effects of any and all medications that he takes are rendered null and void; that the medical team we have is hearing God’s voice and acting on His wisdom and that we remain calm, focused on God’s unfailing promises and that we will be strong soldiers in this “good fight of faith”! Love you all so much! Donna