Where Are We? Miracles in Living with Alzheimer’s Series

By Kathleen Brown –

“You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light” (NIV Psalm18:28).Though I can’t name the destination yet, I know my life has taken a turn. I’ve started a new journey. I sure hope the Lord has the map.

The motel room is tiny. Two beds, one for my parents, one for me. Each covered with a plain, but practical brown bedspread. A beige, Formica-topped table. A sink on the back wall, shower and toilet on one side, dresser and mirror on the other. Tiny, but fine for a quick overnight stay on our trip to visit my son.

The only crowded spot in the room is the corner by the door where my father stacked all the things my mother insisted on bringing in from the car. Not just the luggage, but the maps and the flashlight, all the tools and the battery jumper cables. Dad didn’t object until Mom started dragging out the floor mats. I laughed, as though it was just a new eccentricity she’s developed. But anxiety buzzed like a mosquito in my brain as she went back and forth to the car, closing the heavy metal door to the room each time she went out, knocking on it when she wanted to bring in another load.

I think back to my surprise a couple of weeks ago when I first mentioned this trip to my father. I expected he’d jump at the chance for a trip to Colorado in the fall. Instead, he hesitated. He wasn’t sure about Mom, he said. “She changes her mind a lot. It’s hard to plan things now.”
But here we are, halfway to our destination, and the trip has been just fine.

Until now.

Once she rests from unloading the car, Mom stands and then turns in a full circle around the little room. She turns once more and finally asks where the TV is.

“Right here on the dresser, Baby,” my father tells her. “See? Right here.” He takes her hand and places it on the television.

“Oh, of course! What am I thinking?” She stares at the TV until Dad turns it on.

I should ask. I should take my father outside and ask him what’s up. But I don’t. I tell myself I don’t want to embarrass him, or Mom. Surely everything’s ok.

During the night I awaken to the sound of her voice, high-pitched and anxious. “Where are we?” she asks my father.

He explains.

Almost immediately she asks again, “Where are we? I need to go home.”

The square brown clock on the bedside table reads 2:43 am. Too early to go home, I tell myself. Or too late.

Where are we, Father? What’s going on? The smooth road of my life has changed, with a sudden curve in a different direction. Where does this road lead, Lord? I feel like I’m driving in the dark with no headlights. But in the night I remember Your goodness. Your power. And I tell myself You won’t leave me in this darkness. You know exactly where we are and You will be with us as we move forward. Our strong refuge, today, tonight, right now. Thank You, Lord, for lighting the way.

Since When Did Laziness Become a Laughing Matter?

By Cynthia Ruchti –

You’ve noticed too, I’m sure. People joke about how lazy they are. They value “vegging,” the couch-potato kind, not the sweet potato kind. They brag about how long it’s been since they folded laundry, brushing lightly at the wrinkles in their shirt. It was pulled out of the tangle of clothes in the basket. Clean, right?

“Yeah, I didn’t get to the bank in time. Things came up.” They don’t clarify that the “things” were a nap, a snack, and a video game.

What keeps people from getting to their appointments on time? One of two things—doing too much or doing too little.

I lean more toward the “too much” end of the spectrum. I see a five minute window of buffer time and think of two important things I can get done in that window. That often makes me watch the second-hand of the wall clock as I rush up to the desk just before it ticks into place for my appointment time. Not good.

But neither is the world’s obsession with laziness, with doing the minimum necessary at work, at church, at home…just enough to get by.

One of the places where my husband worked developed an incentive program for employees who did their job exceptionally well—a gift card reward. “Great job. Here’s fifty dollars.” “Nice work on that. Here’s a hundred dollars.”

Grateful as we were for the extra money for the family budget, it always struck us as an oddity that “exceptionally well” and “excellent” and “nice work” weren’t expected. They were viewed as so rare as to deserve special recognition.

We don’t have to wonder what God would think of that. He told us. “Whatever you do,” He said through the Apostle Paul, “do it heartily, as unto the Lord.” (reference below)

As I write this, the table of people near me is discussing installing a toilet. “I put in that new toilet and she’s still complaining,” the man said. His friend asked, “How come?” “Oh, it wobbles some.”

I think even toilet installation has to be done heartily, don’t you?

PRAYER: No matter how popular it is, Lord, keep me from ever believing that laziness can be cute. It doesn’t mesh with Your plan for us. Show me where I might be making excuses for not putting my whole heart into something. Laziness is no laughing matter to You. Help me feel the same way.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,” Colossians 3:23, NIV.

Tickled Pink

By Elaine James –

“Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” implored Paul. (Philippians 4:6 NIV)

People, when do you know it is time for a haircut?

Believe it or not (don’t make fun of me) I prayed “God I would really like to know from someone I respect if the way I am styling my hair lately is okay. Especially if I should do bangs or no bangs.”

A week later in a coffee shop I meet my friend, who I haven’t seen in a year. She walks in with glee in her voice declares “Elaine, I really like your hair and the way you have grown out your bangs. You look so much younger.” My heart was tickled pink with this quick answer to prayer! She even said I look like a movie star, but I won’t reveal which one.

The next day I told someone this story and their reaction was like “Oh come, on with all the starving people and problems in the world, you think God answered that prayer?”

“As a matter of fact I do,” I retorted. I know the attributes of God. Having a personal relationship with Jesus is intimate and as He wants to delight in me. I have seen Him do it in small ways and big. I have seen God answer a friend’s prayer who was craving apple pie. That day someone dropped off an apple pie! God is everywhere and He can take care of all at the same time. That is the mystery and sovereignty of God.

To help alleviate stress/anxiety I memorized Psalm 139. I had this person read part of it out loud “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely” (Psalm 139:1-4 NIV).

I told this person that God, from the first page of the Bible till the end, has shown Himself to many in unique ways. Gideon is a great example. He prayed asking God to allow a test; he took wool fleece, if there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You will save Israel. That is exactly what happened. But Gideon doubted and asked again; this time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew. God did it. And God also saved Israel.

Do you pray to God about everything? Maybe you have something you need to pray about now.

On a side note, Google “Do I need a haircut or not?” You will find a whole gamut of answers.

Wow! Praying made it a whole lot easier than googling and wondering.

PRAYER: Father in Heaven, I want to have a deeper relationship with you. I pray _________. Thank You for being there for me. In Jesus name, Amen.

Sneeze-quake

By Rhonda Rhea –

I was born in Texas. We’re mostly big sneezers there. It’s widely accepted that Texans do everything bigger. No wimpy little “achoo.” No, that’s simply not “Texas” enough. My sneeze, for instance, comes out in sort of a “Yah-hoo!” Heavy on the “yah” and extra, extra heavy on the “hoo.” It could hardly get more Texan than that—unless maybe I roped and branded something in the middle of the sneezing.

My Texas sneeze has a heaping helping of reverberation in it too. It can give ringing ears to everyone within an eighth of a mile radius for a good ten minutes. My husband says my sneeze registers 8.7 on the Richter scale. He’s exaggerating, of course. It’s probably barely a 4.

But to top it all off, my husband also tells me I always sneeze in nines. I think it’s interesting that he accounts for all of them. But then maybe it’s a little like counting down a missile launch. Except that it’s more like a missile launch…times nine. He’s asked that I start yelling “Incoming!” before the first sneeze launches. I hate to say it, but reverberation is not always a good thing.

It is a good thing, though, when we’re launching the grandest of all proclamations. Here’s hoping we can add even more decibels in proclaiming the message of Christ to a hopeless world. We have the message they need. That’s hope that’s worth yahooing about. Hope not just times nine. Hope times infinity.

Hold back my sneeze? I’m pretty sure I’d explode. We can’t hold back the message either. Peter and John got that. “For we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard,” (Acts 4:20, HCSB).

How can we not share it? Jesus Christ went to the cross and suffered that cruel, humiliating death on the cross to make it possible for us to have a right, tight relationship with our holy Heavenly Father. Astounding. The sinless Christ on a cross, hated and shamed, bearing our sin. All for our redemption.

God didn’t keep secret His plan for getting the word out about that redemption. He chose us for the job. First Peter 2:9 says, “You were chosen to tell about the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light,” (NCV). The Father could’ve blasted the Good News over the most reverberating heavenly tweeters and woofers. He could’ve put it on YouTube. He could’ve beamed it over every satellite—or written in the stars, for that matter. He could’ve had the rocks cry out or used some sort of earthquake-attention-grabber. And He does so often use innovative ways to get His word out to those who need it. But the bottom line in His plan is for us to tell. What an honor it is to be included in that plan! That’s nothing to sneeze at, for sure.

And speaking of sneezes, you’re going to think I’m making this part up, but I started sneezing while I was writing this. Totally true. Mid first paragraph even. I haven’t seen the cat for over an hour.

What Will Things Look Like in 2022?

By Jarrod Spencer –

Some things in life I think will never change, especially when living in the moment. However, other things, over the years, have seemed to change. Like a child, who seems to grow faster when I am not around him. Things in life seem to change more when you look back on their progress.

Film for cameras is one of those things that have changed drastically over the past ten years. The change is that you practically cannot find film in an average store. There simply is not a market for it anymore. Cameras have gone to digital formats and trying to find film is virtually impossible in the average department store.

Recently I saw a rerun where someone received a gift of a “filmed” camera for a Christmas gift. This scene started me to think about how film was something which seemed timeless. However, it did have its time.

What about some other things in life that have been around for years? What about tires for our vehicles? Will there ever be something that is just as comfortable but maybe doesn’t need any air to maintain a level for a good ride. Also one that has a lot more wear on them? Could they not be made out of rubber but, rather, a chemical mixture to create the substance? You may think “No, we’ll always have tires.” I think that, too. But I also thought we’d always have film in cameras.

What will the differences in the churches look like in 2022? Will there be much of a change in some of the churches by that time? Will songbooks or Bibles be practically useless? Will some churches go back to house church only or “sit at home and watch on your computer?” Will we become more casual or go back to more dressed up? Whatever does happen will affect the way we share our faith with others. Ponder it…what will be the trend in 2022?…it will be interesting to find out!

Prayer: Father, we are but specks in Your world. We do not know what the future holds, only You do. May we submit to what Your future holds. We look forward to the future knowing You’re in control.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8 NIV).

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