Our First Hurricane (in Houston)

 Every place we have lived has it's unique challenges. From Altus, Oklahoma's tornados, Sweetwater, Texas rattlesnakes to Flint, Michigan's water. Preparing here for a hurricane meant talking to neighbors and family about negotiating power outages and which streets flood. We were directed to the "no hype" weather site of Eric Berger: "Space City Weather". 

Discovering there are 5 stages of flood warnings, we were told this was a stage 2 flood warning and the hurricane developed into a category 1. The different computer models were displayed and the inches of rain predicted. Gas tanks filled, refrigerator and pantry stocked and flashlights located. The warnings are now past and our first hurricane here has moved on.

My thoughts after a day and night of wind and rain reflects on the many storms our lives have been through. This is not the first, or the last. Nor was it the worst (although past experiences cause a heighted awareness of how bad it could be). 

SHELTER

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust" -Psalm 91:1,2

SECURITY

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” ― Corrie ten Boom

SAFETY 

"The cause of this safety is God. And note it is “only” God Who can give such safety. Man cannot provide this sort of safety. They may provide safety but it is not as trustworthy as what God provides and therefore not as good in quality as God gives." -John Butler

SERENITY

The unknown song writer said:

 Closer yet, O Lord, my Rock, Refuge of my soul;

 Dread I not the tempest shock, Tho’ the billows roll.

 Wildest storm cannot alarm, For, to me, can come no harm,

 Leaning on Thy loving arm; Closer, Lord, to Thee

Joy and peace are mine; Let me in Thy love abide,

Keep me ever near Thy side, In the “Rock of Ages” hide,

Closer, Lord, to Thee

Numbering Your Days

"Everything's not funny". That's what Dad used to say to Steve (my brother) and me - usually around the kitchen table as we always found something to laugh about. 

November 20, 2018. The neurologist looked me square in the face to clarify that this is NOT pinched nerves that is causing the weakness in your hand, "it is a disease". The weeks ahead included a return visit to assess the nerve connections in my legs and a neck/spine MRI (of which could be compared to cutting out the bottom of two Home Depot five gallon buckets, taping them together and somehow sliding your head and torso into it! #FUNSTUFF #NOTFORSISSIES #PUTMETOSLEEPPLEASE).

I'd like to write a book while I still can. I looked up statistics on this disease. Most live about three years from diagnosis. "1000 DAYS" comes to mind as my thoughts go immediately to David's words in the Psalms "teach me to number my days". To that day, my days are 22,624. 61 years, 11 months and 9 days. A good and full life indeed. 

My life verse is still Isaiah 26:3 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in Thee". I just got a bookmark from Jamie (James' widow) with his fingerprint etched on it along with this verse. This year has been such a different chapter of our lives. 

Final confirmation is needed by a physician at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. On my followup to the MRI visit, the doc told me "not to read too much about it" and let the specialist explain more when I see him January 3. It is a little hard to do when you have so many questions that come to mind.

Numbering Our Days

My birthday this year marked 19,358 days of life. It was actually a great day. My Facebook friends sent me birthday wishes (most of them good), several cards and presents, Vicki fixed me brownies, my children chatted with me, our church choir sang to me (it was at a caroling event at the park and was the most on tune "Happy Birthday" I have ever had sung to me), I was not sick, rode a train with two of my grandkids.. you get the idea.. it was a GREAT day. One of many.

Not every day is such an enjoyable day. Sometimes it is good that it is just ONE day... one long, seemingly extended and painful day. Those are the days you would hit the "fast forward" button if you

could. Other more enjoyable days, you want to hit the "pause" button if you could find the remote. But neither is possible.

One day at time. And I am glad that God made it so. Yesterday's difficulty need not be carried along with today nor should we spend too much time on tomorrow's worries. Today is one of God's favorite words. It is an important lesson we must learn. It is a good day to ask ourself where we are in our life. Is it where we should be? I don't know who said it, but truly "today is the first day of the rest of your life". We don't know what lies ahead, but we need to be prepared to take it one day at a time. May we apply Psalm 90:12 where it says "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."