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Archive for March, 2011

What’s Your Sign?

Posted in Devotional, Encouragement, Fruit of the Spirit, Humility, Long-suffering, Love, Meekness, Obedience, Servanthood, Teen Read, Uncategorized on March 31, 2011| 2 Comments »

photo credit: The Gorilla Foundation

Back in the eighties, it was common for young people to ask each other, “What’s your sign?” They honestly believed that everyone’s “sign” revealed a lot about them.  I never bought into any of that, but I did learn a lot about people by just watching them. I’ve always believed that non-verbal communication often speaks louder than words.  Perhaps that understanding is one reason why the Lord called me to deaf ministry.

My sign today (or should I say sign language) is A.S.L, which stands for American Sign Language. I love the ability to communicate with hearing impaired individuals, and I enjoy watching the expressive way they “speak.” Knowing sign language has come in handy many times; sometimes in rather unexpected ways. For instance, I recently had a unique experience with a gorilla. Of course, we didn’t carry on a lengthy conversation, but he did tell me he was sick.

Let me first explain, some gorillas do know sign language. Have you ever heard of Koko? She is a Western Lowland Gorilla who was born at the San Francisco Zoo in 1971. Placed under the tutelage of scientist Francine Patterson, Koko has learned over one-thousand signs in which to communicate with humans. She wasn’t the first gorilla to learn sign, but she has certainly excelled at it. Because of Koko’s accomplishments, scientists continue to pursue inter-species communication through the use of sign language and they are having good success.

Whether or not the sick gorilla at our local zoo had ever been formally taught sign language or not, he was clearly communicating with sign. Every time I visit the zoo, I linger at the indoor gorilla enclosure for a while and sign to those intriguing primates just to see if I can actually elicit an understandable response.

One day, as I stood there signing “How are you?” one particular gorilla caught my attention. He fixed his gaze on me and I am almost certain he was frowning. “How are you? I asked again. The gorilla then clearly signed, “Sick. Stomach-ache. Headache.” To be sure I had understood him correctly, I signed back to him, “You sick?  “Sick- stomach ache- headache,” the gorilla repeated. A closer look at the precious gorilla revealed that he did have a runny nose and puffy eyes.

I wanted very much to find one of the zoo keepers, but there wasn’t one available. As the next best option, I gave the information to one of the general staff. The message probably never got passed-on, which saddened me greatly because this gorilla was asking for help and I couldn’t give it.

There have been several times I felt that way while at my children’s high school. At one particular event, I took the time to really ‘see’ those teenagers. And rather than being disturbed at the obnoxious hair colors and styles, piercings and tattoos, and the repulsive clothing, I was able to see them through the same eyes with which I watched the gorilla.

Many of these young people were desperately trying in their own way to communicate. They weren’t using sign language, but with their body language and body image, they were clearly shouting: Look at me! I’m hurting neglected, scared and so on. I stood there wondering, how many of us are really “listening” to these young people.

Koko has many critics who insist that she may have learned to imitate some gestures but has no concept of their meaning. Likewise, there are lots of adults who look at today’s teens and think, they are not conveying any particular message; they are just a reflection of their culture. That may be the case with some, but there are a great many that are desperate for someone to notice –someone to care.

There are also countless others out there who seem to be happy and have their lives in perfect order, but looks can be deceiving. If we looked through God’s eyes, it is quite probable that we would see everyone quite differently.

When he [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36).

As God’s children, we are to have the same love and compassion as our Heavenly Father does. I pray that we all continuously strive to gain a slightly different perspective; one that will cause us to alter our perceptions in such a way that we are more aware of the needs of those around us.

Most importantly, when we do detect that someone is hurting neglected, scared and so on; may we always be quick to show them the love, mercy and compassion of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The world can sometimes be a very dark place, and there are times when we all need a ray of light to bring hope.  Jesus is that light!  Will you be the one He shines through to brighten the lives of others?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlRK1vqcuvg

postscript: Koko has her own website. You can learn all about her and the Gorilla Foundation here:
The Gorilla Foundation -Koko

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“Not Yet”

Posted in Devotional, God's Faithfulness, God's Provision, Healing on March 29, 2011| Leave a Comment »

On a personal note:

This time last week I was preparing to meet my Maker. Let me be honest and share something personal with you. When I went for my yearly mammogram a few weeks ago, I had that inward ‘knowing’ that it would not come back normal. It didn’t. But that was the least of my concerns.

I had been having headaches for a few weeks, but a few days after the mammogram, it turned into a constant, agonizing pain towards the middle of my head, right side. Even a pain killer would not alleviate its intensity. I wasn’t too concerned at first. But the headache got worse –and my lymph nodes swelled on the right side. I thought about seeing my physician but the weekend was fast approaching and it is difficult to be seen then. Plus, I wanted to have the second, diagnostic mammogram done before I saw him, so I waited. That proved to be an unwise decision.

Even so, I was at total peace. I wasn’t sure if the suspect mammogram had anything to do with the pain issue, but either way I knew something was seriously wrong. I’ve been through some really difficult health challenges before, but I had never experienced anything like this. I absolutely know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God heals (I have experienced His miraculous healing many times) and I usually stand in faith believing for it. This time, however, I had that same inner ‘knowing’ that I was going to go through something very difficult and there would be a purpose in it.

It occurred to me that IF I had breast cancer and IF that was related to the splitting head pain and swollen lymph nodes, it would probably mean that I would be going home to be with my Lord rather quickly. I prayed, “Lord that is entirely up to you –whatever you desire. My children are almost grown and I am ready to go home whenever you are ready for me.” It’s not that I wanted to leave my family, but I wasn’t afraid to either.

The day before my diagnostic mammogram/sonogram (Sunday), I laid on the couch making a mental note of the things I needed to wrap-up just in case. Let me stress again, I was completely at peace. Even the thought of a mastectomy didn’t bother me. And I knew that even if God called me home (and I honestly believed He might), He would certainly take care of my family. This is what comes of knowing that your relationship with Jesus Christ is right and your future with Him is secure. However, as I was thinking about all the things that I needed to hurriedly finish, the voice of the Lord spoke very clearly to me. He simply said, “Not Yet.” That’s all — just a quiet, reassuring, “Not Yet.”

Okay, so it wasn’t my time to go, yet my symptoms were getting worse. Bright and early Monday morning I called for an emergency appointment. The pain was still severe, and I had developed several more symptoms. These included, but were not limited to, blurred vision and nausea. My whole body hurt and by this point it even hurt to touch my skin.

I couldn’t even drive myself to the doctor. Normally it would have been easy to find someone to help out, but on that particular morning I couldn’t. I thought, I’ll just have to drive myself, but then I heard the Lord speak with stern rebuke, “Absolutely not! You cannot drive!” So, I called my husband away from his work to come get me. He wasn’t close to home and he was in the middle of an important job, but he was able to get me to my appointment on time. I know the Lord was looking out for me.

Long story short: I do NOT have breast cancer and the other issue I was having, while rather severe, was completely treatable. Between the potent medication and the prayer offered on my behalf, I felt like a new person within twenty-four hours of seeing my physician and continued to improve daily. It only took three or four days to feel normal again.

This is all very personal, so why am I sharing all of this with you? There are at least three thoughts I want to offer today which I truly pray brings hope and/or comfort to someone.

1) God does speak to His children. Whether He speaks to our hearts, or through His word, He will instruct us in regards to our individual lives if we take time to listen. And, in knowing that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose (Romans 8:28), we can face every challenge with absolute peace and full assurance that God is in control so we don’t have to be.

2) There is an appointed time for a person to die. —To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die… (Ecclesiastes 3:1 -2a). If it is not our time to go, we won’t. Therefore, we don’t need to worry when we face rather serious illness or disease if we put our trust in God because He IS in control.

3) Even if it is our time to pass from this world into eternity, we can face death with perfect peace, knowing that we needn’t worry or fear so long as our relationship is right with the Lord Jesus Christ. You (O Lord) will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You (Isaiah 26:3 NKJV) –even unto death

In closing, let me say that I did go through a very difficult and painful ordeal. But true to His word, God used the situation to accomplish something important. For the sake of another’s privacy, I won’t share the details, but suffice it to say that the Lord God used my situation for that person’s benefit. I don’t believe that God puts sickness and disease on His children –He is too loving of a Father for that – but I wholeheartedly believe that He finds opportunity to prove His love through every circumstance of life. Furthermore, every trial you face is just another opportunity for you to see that love.

I have several friends, strong of faith, who are currently enduring difficult physical battles and I see in them the same peace and assurance I experienced –that peace which comes from knowing that God is in control. On the flip side, I have seen several folks who do not know Jesus as Lord, suffer through much anguish and fear through their infirmities.

Let me assure you, God cares about you and He cares about your health. It hurts His heart to see you suffering or hurting no matter who you are. If you don’t know Jesus Christ as Savior, and have never felt His peace, He is just a prayer away. Call out to Him and He will reach down to you.

Postscript: This is my second abnormal mammogram, but I was miraculously healed the first time. You can read about it here:
There’s Nothing There?

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Sinkable? Unthinkable!

Posted in Devotional, God's Faithfulness, God's Provision, Obedience, Servanthood, Titanic on March 24, 2011| 1 Comment »

Is there any greater tragedy than the loss of human life, especially if that loss could have been prevented? Let’s revisit history for a moment.

The magnificent, “unsinkable” Titanic, the world’s largest passenger steamship of its time, quickly sank into the icy waters of the Atlantic on April 15th, 1912 after its encounter with an iceberg. More than fifteen-hundred lives were lost including those of innocent children. The scars of this devastation were only deepened when it was made known that so many of those lives could have been spared.

Several mistakes had been made, all of which contributed to the profusion of death and destruction –any one of which could have been easily corrected. For example, there weren’t enough lifeboats to accommodate all the people on board, and those lifeboats that were employed were not filled to capacity. There has been a lot written about those various mistakes and what could have –should have– been done differently, but I would prefer to focus for a moment on the heroes instead.

We may not be familiar with their names, but there were many people aboard Titanic that gave their lives in order that others might be saved. The men in the engine room, for example, never abandoned their posts; they worked feverishly to keep the ship afloat as long as possible and keep the lights on so others could find their way to safety.

That is a rather good picture of the church. We’ve seen the news. Our world is being ravaged by turmoil, famine, pestilence and war. These devastations are sweeping over every continent like a tsunami, and people are beginning to drown in the despair of it all. It is our duty, therefore, to keep working till Jesus returns (Luke 19:13) and to keep the gospel light burning in order to give direction to those who are perishing.

According to survivor reports, there was a minister aboard the Titanic who gave his life doing exactly that. After placing his daughter in a lifeboat and saying his final goodbye, Reverend John Harper returned to deck helping “Women, children and unsaved into the lifeboats!”

Even in his final moments of life, he continued to do God’s work. Once in the icy waters, Reverend Harper swam from person to person searching for the unsaved so that he might lead them to Jesus. His last words before sinking into the ocean’s depths –he had given his life vest to another—was “Believe on the Name of the Lord Jesus and you will be saved!”

A few years ago, our local science and exploration center hosted a Titanic exhibition. Hollywood may have capitalized on the untimely demise of fifteen-hundred people, but the exhibition humanized it. Until then, it was easy for me to think of the sunken Titanic as just another heart-breaking historical event. But when I placed my hand on the display wall which had been cooled to the temperature of the icy Atlantic waters into which the terrified passengers were plunged, the whole catastrophe became more real to me. I was then able to view the various other displays from an entirely different perspective.

The personal belongings exhibits, for example, were very sobering. The ship’s victims were not just statistics; they were real people. Beyond that, the immeasurable loss of human life seemed all the more grievous when viewing the actual photographs of several passengers. Putting faces to the names of those who died, especially, made everything more relevant.

I thought about the survivors too. How many of these people carried the burden of guilt to their graves? Yes, mistakes were made. But rather than pointing fingers of blame, we should instead learn from those mistakes and not repeat them.

Most of Titanic’s mistakes were made only because it was believed by the vast majority that the Titanic was completely unsinkable. Likewise, many people today think that regardless of isolated global disasters, the world as we know it will never be destroyed. The body of Christ knows better. Scripture foretells what will befall this earth; and we know the destiny of those who do not accept Jesus as their Messiah when it does. These people are, as one old hymn says, “sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore –very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more….”

I ask you again, is there any greater tragedy than the loss of human life, especially if that loss could have been prevented? Absolutely not! To stand-by and let someone perish without trying to save them is unthinkable. I pray that we, the Body of Christ, never become apathetic to the plight of those who are lost.

Like Reverend Harper, we must be diligently about the Father’s business until the very end. The world learned of the Reverend’s unfailing devotion from the testimony of a Titanic survivor. He was floating atop debris when the Reverend swam up to him and asked if he was saved. Not only did the young man reply ‘no,’ he refused the offer of salvation. Reverend Harper then removed his life vest and gave it to the young man. “Then you need this more than I,” he said, and swam to the next person.

Shortly before he sank to his watery grave, the reverend swam back to this young man and offered him one last chance to receive Jesus Christ as his Savior. Deeply touched by Reverend Harper’s act of compassion, the young man softened his heart and accepted Jesus. Of the fifteen-hundred people that went into the icy water, only six were rescued; he was one of them.

I can only imagine how that man must’ve felt the first time he heard the words to the aforementioned hymn, “….But the master of the sea heard my despairing cry, from the waters lifted me, now safe am I. Love lifted me… When nothing else could help, love lifted me.”

I wonder, is it possible that after such a miraculous rescue the man’s faith was sinkable? Unthinkable!

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Sour Lemonade

Posted in Contentment, Devotional, Endurance, God's Faithfulness, God's Provision on March 10, 2011| 2 Comments »

photo credit: Joell Ortiz

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!” Hats off to the clever optimist that first coined that phrase, but I think he forgot something. If you don’t put any sugar in that lemonade it is going to be unbearably sour –what’s the benefit in that? And as we all know, life seldom hands you lemons and sugar at the same time.

Take Tuesday morning for example. I woke up with all those flu-like symptoms that lets you know life will be on hold for the next twenty-four hours or so; no getting out of bed. Then the first call came. “Mom, I’m sick and I have a fever. You need to come get me.”

A short time later my husband called. “Are you sitting down?” he asked. (Don’t you just love phone calls that start like that?) After he told me the reason for his call I felt even sicker. “The car’s ready to be picked up” he said, “but it’s going to cost more than we thought. The bill is one-thousand dollars.” Who would’ve guessed that the car would’ve cracked its head gasket at the same time we were having fifteen-hundred dollars worth of repairs done on the van. Oh well, the car would have to be picked up later, I thought as I crawled back into bed.

My son and I both spent most of the day in one of those deep, illness-induced sleeps so I didn’t have much time to think about all those sour lemons, not that I really wanted to anyway. After several hours I moved out to the couch awaiting my husband’s return. I figured he would want to discuss the household needs for that evening if nothing else, but he didn’t. He simply cared for me then gingerly kissed my forehead. Feeling quite loved at that moment, I drifted off to sleep knowing that he would take care of everything.

Then, a few hours later, I awakened to the sounds of my beloved in the kitchen making dinner. And this was after picking up the car, chauffeuring kids and running a few errands. I figured he would be stressed at best and probably even moody and irritable. But there he was joyfully humming. I strained to hear the tune. Yes, he was definitely humming Be Thou My Vision.

This beautiful Irish hymn was written in the eighth century and later versified in 1905 by Eleanor Hull. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with this touching song, the words are as follows:

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

His humming was comforting so I put on some music and lay immersed in the lyrics of beautiful hymns. Some of them, like Be Thou My Vision, focused on God himself, others focused on His Word. My body wasn’t healed that very moment but I felt greatly strengthened because:

Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. (Proverbs 16:24)

Scripture also says: How sweet are your words (Lord) to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth (Psalm 119:103)

This explains why my husband was joyful and at peace even in the midst of sickness and financial burden. We had been given some pretty sour lemons that day, but he knew that our heavenly Father loved us and that He would take care of everything –and that my friend, is sweet!

Bryan had chosen to turn our lemons into lemonade. That is to say, he made the decision to ensure the expensive repairs were all made so that his family would have safe, dependable vehicles to drive. Then he sweetened that lemonade by focusing his thoughts on the Lord –allowing Him to be his best thought by day or by night. And I’m sure, my husband rested in God’s comforting promise to supply all our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

What about you? Has your lemonade been sour lately? Remember, if you drink sour lemonade –you’ll wear a sour expression. Just a little food drink for thought.

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Mostly Dead

Posted in Uncategorized on March 9, 2011| 1 Comment »

Wesley died and all hope with him. His true love would now be forced to marry the disdainful prince and live unhappily ever after, or so it seemed. But as fate would have it, the hero of The Princess Bride was not really dead. He was, we are told, “mostly dead –there’s a big difference between dead and mostly dead!”

Granted, it is easy to sometimes think that some of our hopes and dreams have withered and died. We have probably all faced that at some point. Mark Twain said, “Lord save us all from… a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.” Perhaps he was referencing Proverbs 13:12: Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

When I think of that scripture, I think of a natural tree. It remains dormant in the bleakness of winter –its branches bare. However, when spring arrives, the tree bursts forth with abundance. Solomon said:
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Likewise, the fulfillment of hope also arrives at its appointed time.

Always remember, circumstances might be such that hope has seemingly died, but there is a big difference between dead and mostly dead. All it takes to revive hope is one simple prayer. Then, in its proper season, that hope which has been deferred will burst forth with fulfillment.

May we all find comfort in knowing this.

~postcript: The devotional featured above is a sample from my Polished Pearls blog. All of the devotionals on this site are very short nuggets of inspiration. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you can click here:
Polished Pearls

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Relative Truth

Posted in Condemnation, Devotional, Forgiveness, God's Faithfulness, Judgement on March 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »

photo credit: Forbes.com

Have you ever had one of those relatives whose very name made you cringe? Mine was a particular aunt. She always came to visit for a week or so without her family, but boy did I know all about my cousin Kathy even though I had never seen her in person.

Auntie dearest always sang Kathy’s praises
Ad nauseam, and they went something like this:

“Kathy is prettier than you! Kathy is smarter than you! Kathy is the closest thing to an angel this side of heaven.”

Then one day it happened; I finally got to see Kathy.

Laughing out loud would have been rude so I restrained myself and laughed silently. This was Kathy? This was the princess whose beauty could hardly be surpassed? Well, I guess love really is blind.

Kathy wasn’t overly intelligent either. Nor was she more creative, better at cooking, nor anything else I had ever heard about her. In fact, the only attribute in which Kathy seemed to be superior was ego.

After all those years of resenting my “perfect” cousin, I found myself feeling rather sorry for her. She might even have been likeable if she were not so self-centered. To her detriment, she had been conditioned to believe that the world revolved around her and should bow down to her. If Kathy had any natural beauty, I couldn’t see it through her ugly self-exalting (and mother-exalting) vanity.

A great many years have passed since I stepped out of Kathy’s shadow into the light of reality, but I have encountered others very much like her and her mother along the way. I pay them no heed and I certainly don’t allow myself to feel inferior to them no matter how superior they present themselves.

You and I need never compare ourselves to others because our heavenly Father doesn’t. There is no question we are all terribly flawed and markedly lacking, but we are children of the King (of Kings) and as such will one day be perfected.

Furthermore, each of us is special and unique. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light
(I Peter 2:9).

Though we are never to be puffed up in pride because of our heavenly status, we can certainly walk confidently in it. After all, our heavenly Father doesn’t care how brilliant our minds are. He cares only that we love him with our whole heart, soul and mind. And, He is not concerned about our physical appearance. When he looks at us sees only our heart (I Samuel 16:7). God is not even concerned about our ability –He is only interested in our AVAILability.

Satan, on the other hand, forever lost his heavenly status because of his puffed-up, self-exalted pride. No wonder he takes his fierce wrath out on God’s children. This deceiver also has a song that he sings Ad nauseam. Its lyrics go something like this:

“You’re not good enough. You’re not spiritual enough. God can’t use you! Did God really say that?”

If that weren’t enough, Satan wants us to live in the shadow of his child, whose name is condemnation. But the reality is that there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:1).

We might have to tolerate some unbearable relatives now and then, but we never have to tolerate the lies of the accuser of the brethren. And that’s the truth!

postscript: Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10) and he is the father of all lies. (John 8:44) In fact, Satan is not really his name, it is his title. In the original Hebrew he is called hasatan, which means the (ha) deceiver (satan).

~ p.s.s. Kathy is not my cousin’s real name. Furthermore, these events took place more than thirty years ago while we were still quite young. We haven’t seen each other since, but I assume that “Kathy” is now a very down-to-earth person and I hope to see her again some day.

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