My daughter Jillian attends Ross School of Veterinary Medicine which is located on St. Kitts Island way down in the Caribbean.  It was so hard sending her off to such a foreign land.  As her parents, Ted and I worried about her safety, health, and well-being in such a faraway place.  It made it much easier knowing that she had her husband with her.  We trusted Andy to keep both of them safe.  He offered all the physical and emotional support that has, so far, gotten her through four of seven semesters.

This next semester it all changes.  Andy will be staying in the states to start work on his doctorate.  Jillian will return (following her semester break home here in Michigan) to school by herself.  We are all a little nervous about it.  One issue that came up was that of cell phones for communication.  Jill and Andy have cell phones on the island – and those phones really are for use only on the island.  Jill had a phone that she used in the states – when she was in the states.  As Jill was trying to explain to me the different kinds of phones and service plans while trying to figure out who needed what kind of phone, she made this comment to me that summarized the goal she was trying to achieve:

“I just want to have Andy in my pocket.”

That hit me like a rush of wind and caused my heart to sigh and my eyes to tear.  She has depended on him for the past sixteen months and he has always been there to help.  Now she will be flying solo so to speak and wants a direct line to him.

It made me think 🙂

We all have available to us the very best source of help we could ever need – and it is in our pockets.  When things are going wrong and we need to cry out for help – simply take your hands out of your pockets, put them together, and pray.

I want to help Jill as much as I can while she is far away at school.  I am frustrated that I cannot call anytime I want (she is in class or it costs too much), I cannot send frequent care packages (you can’t believe how expensive it is to mail a package to an island in the Caribbean), and I can’t drive over there for a quick day or weekend visit to take her out to eat or spoil her with a shopping trip.  All I can do is pray.

I know there are a lot of moms out there with adult children who are living far away, attending school in another state, or who are not just physically distant, but have distanced themselves emotionally leaving a huge relationship gap.  Don’t forget that you have the most powerful method of assistance available at your fingertips and in your very own pockets.  Your hands.  Just pray.

Jilly, you can do it!  Andy loves you.  There are lots of friends and family who love you.  And God loves you.  Trust Him.

I’ll be here praying for you.

Just Laurel
(just mom)

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

On Palm Sunday our church presented a drama and musical presentation where we transformed the front of the church in to the city of Jerusalem.  With actors and singing, our audience got to see Jesus healing the crippled, changing lives, and making His triumphant entry into the city while people waved palm branches.  It was in this Palm Sunday presentation that I portrayed the adulteress woman who was to be stoned – and was spared by Jesus who asked the crowd, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  The woman is not stoned – and in our presentation – she sings a song of being forgiven and how “to sin is surely human but forgiveness – is divine.”

On Maundy Thursday, our drama presentation continued with a crowd of people finding Jesus in the garden where Judas kisses and betrays Jesus.  Our small crowd of actors and actresses were having a little trouble getting into character and rabble-rousing so I offered to put on my bland townspeople costume from the weekend before and help them.  As Jesus was arrested following Judas’ kiss, we had to shout in anger, “Crucify Him!  Crucify Him!”

What happened after that church service still leaves me in breathless fascination.

I had changed out of my costume and back into ‘normal’ clothes and was talking in the gathering space with an old friend.  Circling around me was a young eight year old girl in our congregation named Lucy.  We knew each other, although she never really speaks to me individually.  She may be with her parents while I speak to them, but more likely she is darting in and out of other people, chasing her siblings.  This time she was right up next to me, actually brushing against my clothes, and was trying to patiently wait for my break in conversation to obviously speak to me.  I was curious and so I stopped my conversation with my friend and looked down at Lucy and asked her, “Do you have something to say to me Lucy?”  She stopped and looked up at me.  “Why did you yell ‘crucify Him’ to Jesus today when last week you were so happy he forgave you?”

I was stunned.

I was speechless.

Out of the mouths of babes.

I put a hand on each of Lucy’s cheeks and looked her straight in the eye and replied, “Lucy you are the only one who noticed.”

She watched me on Palm Sunday and heard my grateful praise to Jesus.  And then she recognized me in my same costume shouting in anger with the demands that Jesus be crucified.

Sadly, isn’t that what we all do?  Especially at Easter when we all attend church and sing joyfully that “Jesus Christ is risen today – hallelujah!”  And then tomorrow we curse him when our car won’t start, our spouse angers us, or life throws a challenge at us.  Why are we so quick to praise God, then blame him for what we don’t like?

Thank you, Lucy, for your Easter message to me.  I had to share it.  It is such a simple lesson but one that is so very great.  If we claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then we’d best live our lives like we mean it every day.  It’s not just a Sunday habit, is it?  And tomorrow when we are at work or somewhere at play, we must continue to walk hand in hand with Jesus.  To deny Him is like shouting “crucify Him”.

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Hallelujah!

Just Laurel

I’m afraid I’ve been a bit on the negative side lately with the challenges we are facing in potentially moving Amanda, and the dealings with agencies and caseworkers. Thanks for letting me air my frustrations! I would like today’s note to be a positive one. Aren’t most ‘comments’ and ‘reviews’ negative and full of complaints and all the things gone wrong? I have been reminded to include the positive things too.

The following was posted by Anna – I saw it on Facebook and asked her if I could repost it and she said “yes”. Anna takes care of a special needs young adult, but is also a part time worker for my very own Amanda.

“It’s pretty great to make such a positive impact on a person’s life. Helping people with disabilities has opened my eyes more to seeing people dealing with the trials in their life, rather than just seeing the disability itself. Being able to be a part of their life, actually see life through their eyes, understanding the pain that they feel. These people have had more surgeries, more judgment, more awkward stares, and more emotion than most can imagine. To be completely dependent on others, having their privacy completely invaded in every imaginable instance, and still having the love and trust in others is something I can never fully comprehend. I’m honored to be able to be a part of these people’s lives. And to think, when I started this job I thought I would be helping them, but instead of me being a positive influence on them, they have been an even bigger one on me.”

Thank you Anna.

Just Laurel

1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

I am a listener.  I am not the gabby one.  I can hear SO MUCH when I stay silent and focus on listening.

We have two ears and only one tongue in order that we may hear more and speak less.

I shall retell a story from an earlier blog about an acquaintance I had at church.  One day as I was going up the staircase, she was going down.  The conversation went kind of like this:  “Hi Laurel, how are you??  Blah blah blah.  Did you know that blah … blah … blah …” and as I looked at her waiting for my turn to talk, she finished with, “ … blah … blah … blah … well talk to you later.” And she disappeared down the stairs.  I was left with my mouth gaping.  I laughed and continued on my way up, wondering if she realized that I hadn’t said one word to her.

A wise old owl lived in an oak; the more he saw, the less he spoke;
the less he spoke, the more he heard; why can’t we all be like that bird?

Besides listening to the words and meanings that people are trying to express to you in speech, there is so much more to be an attentive listener for.  Just this morning, as Ted and I were getting ready for the day in our bedroom that faces the back yard, I heard the sweet sound of children’s voices.  I hushed Ted and made him listen.  It was the neighbor kids playing in our back yard.  It was the sweet sound of Spring!  After a long cold and silent winter, we finally have peeks of green plants and the lively voices of children playing outside.

It’s easy to entertain some people.  All you have to do is sit and listen.

At work we use a chime system for different alerts.  When a patient arrives in the front waiting room, there is one tone that alerts our pre-op staff that another patient has arrived and we can get them and get started with their case.  Two beeps mean a patient is done in the operating room and I can go get them to take them to recovery.

The first step to wisdom is silence; the second is listening.

Since Amanda moved into her apartment, I have had her text me every morning when she gets up.  The small text chime my phone makes tells me that she is awake and is up in her wheelchair.  The other morning she decided to call me instead of text.  A ringing phone at 6am usually means she is sick, or stuck, or needs assistance.  The jolting sound of the phone had my half-awake body stumbling out of bed to find the ringing house phone as panic quickly raced through my body.

A winner listens; a loser can’t wait until it’s his turn to talk.

So what about listening to God?  Some people don’t think He exists – they say they don’t see Him – or hear Him.  I say – Are you listening?  Are you so busy, like my church friend, doing all the talking TO God?  At work, when I was a new employee, I didn’t always hear the 2 tone chime.  It took practice.  Now I can be busy with another patient, and yet I hear that chime every time.  And even Amanda’s morning text; I used to wake every morning when I heard it.  Now I can hear it in my half-sleep and know she’s safe,
and fall back asleep.  If you’d like to hear from God, try listening.  You might have to stop what you’re doing, or practice your listening skills.  You may have to shush some other noises and focus on what you hear – and like the sweet sound of children’ s voices in the yard after a long cold winter, you may hear God talking to you.  You don’t want to wait until He has to call with bad news, like Amanda’s early morning phone calls, that will have you stumbling out of bed and scared at what the call is about.

Just listen.

Just Laurel

John 8:47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Proverbs 2:1-5 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

John 10:27-28 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

I made it to the gym this morning. It takes a committed push from deep inside myself – but I always feel accomplished when I’m done. Never any regrets for going. My main goal when I work out is NOT to sweat buckets on the tread mill or elliptical (I don’t like that machine) but to work with the weights and build muscle. More muscle means a leaner, more toned body as well as strength and a faster metabolism. The technique for building muscles is to do a repetition of a weight exercise until you can’t quite finish that twelfth rep. And you do three sets of twelve. Just when you can’t do another repetition and it starts to hurt and burn a little; it means you are tearing muscle fibers. The mechanism (in layman’s terms here) is that the tears are little bits of muscle damage that is GOOD for your muscle because the next day, when you rest that muscle, it will repair itself and even make a little more muscle – and that means an increase in muscle fibers.

So now let me couple that thought with what I read this morning.

🙂

Psalm 66:8-10 Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.  For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.

Precious metals must be heated at high temperatures so that all impurities are removed. So what does this have to do with building muscle you ask?

Unless our muscles are challenged and even ‘burned’ so to speak, they will not change or grow. The same is true in our lives. We could be living life on a pretty comfortable path, but unless we are tested by challenges, we will stay the same and never grow. God will put situations in our lives from which we may never be the same again. He is helping to refine us; get rid of the impurities; so that we may become more like him.

At the gym, it is so easy to reduce the amount of weight that I am working with – I just may not be motivated that day or feel like working hard. Many times God sends us life challenges where we cannot always so simply remove the extra weight.   We have to carry it. Sometimes it hurts.

But if we are faithful and true to trust Him, He has promised to be with us to the end and will carry that burden for us. He will refine us and we will be better people in the end.

No pain no gain baby!

Just Laurel

Isaiah 48:10  See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

Security cameras. They are everywhere. Their purpose is to catch people doing BAD things. If there weren’t people robbing banks, stealing from stores, or vandalizing things, then there would probably be no need for them.

I watch a lot of short videos presented on line by www.faithit.com. I love what they report! Instead of all the bad and horrible news stories of murders, robberies, dirty politics, etc., they post up-lifting stories that splash some good news in the midst of all the worldly bad stuff.

So those security cameras? Faithit put together a short video of all the GOOD things some of these security cameras caught on video recording. And in the midst of my very busy and stressful day, I happened to watch this video via Facebook (If you “like” faithit’s Facebook page you will get notification of the videos they post each day on your Facebook newsfeed).

It put a smile on my face.

Hope it makes you smile, too.

So – I am too busy to blog today but not too busy to share a little splash of happy with you. I think the lesson here is to expect the UNexpected and to look for the JOY and the HAPPY in life everyday – instead of hunting down only the bad stuff with hidden cameras.

http://www.faithit.com/acts-of-kindness-caught-on-camera/

just Laurel

btw – The NEW blog/website IS COMING SOON!

At the surgical center where I work we have different doctors using our facility each day to perform eye surgery on their patients. Our doctors are male and female, old and young, and from various ethnic backgrounds.

One day many months ago, Dr. Farid (NOT his real name  🙂  Names have been changed to protect the privacy of those I write about) had finally arrived to perform surgery. His patients had already arrived and we had them ready and waiting for their procedures. I watched Dr. Farid go into the restroom. Many minutes passed by. “Oh GEEZ,” I thought. He’s been in there a LONG time and we all know that a guy, in the morning, in the bathroom, and for a long time can only mean one thing. And I was not going in there to pee for quite a while after HE got done if you know what I mean. I mentioned to a co-worker who had worked there longer than me, “Dr. Farid has been in the bathroom for quite a while now.” Her quick and easy response was…

“He’s praying.”

What??

Now I don’t know if Dr. Farid is Arabic, or Muslim, or even what country he is from. I do know that he is a very nice man and treats his patients with great respect. I also know that if I were going to have surgery, I sure would be pleased to know that my surgeon prayed before operating on me.

On surgery days when Dr. Farid is operating, it is now part of the expected sequence of the morning to see him disappear into the bathroom before any surgery begins.

Why can’t we Christians be more devout and unashamed about our faith?

What if we all got on our knees before starting our day?

Now we might not all be going to work to perform critical or even life-saving surgery on patients each day, but don’t you think we could pave the way to a better day if we asked God to join us and lead us?

Thank you, Dr. Farid, for your example.

Just Laurel

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.