The Deceiver

TV set. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I remember watching Saturday morning cartoons, and the themes would be something like “Believe in yourself” and “Follow your heart”. Cute idea, but bad advice for a Christian. Still, it’s how the world thinks, and it’s how kids growing up are told to think.

As I thought about this, the title of this post just popped into my head–the Deceiver. The devil’s the deceiver, right? We need to be aware that Satan uses tools to deceive us that are often a lot closer to home than we think.

“Follow your heart”. The phrase immediately brings to mind a verse, Jeremiah 17:9:

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Going Nowhere Fast

Most people like to be independent. We don’t like being told what to do or how to do it, and we often don’t like it when we need help to do something. We’re stuck in this “I can do it myself” mentality. Being able to accept help, instruction, and correction from others is an excellent trait, but I’d like to look beyond that at another problem.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV)

The Road to Recovery

Hi all, I’m back! Well, technically, I’ve been back since Monday, but today’s the first time I’ve felt up to getting on the computer.

First of all, I want to thank everyone for your prayers. The surgery went really well; better than expected, in fact! The time at the hospital was really rough, but God was watching out for me.

I’ve been walking since Saturday (and I stood up not even twenty-four hours after my surgery), and I’m slowly getting stronger. I’m in pain pretty much all the time, but most of it’s been bearable; and when it’s not we have a supply of pain medication, though I’m trying to avoid taking too much. Mostly, I’m just tired of the pain, of the restricted movement, of not being able to lied down, get up, and sit down without help. No bending, twisting, or lifting. The other night I woke up, totally forgot about my back, and tried to sit up. Believe me, I needed pain pills pretty fast.

It’s going to be a long while till I’m back to normal, but I hope to be blogging frequently!

God bless,

-christrocks

Update

Surprised to be hearing from me so soon? So am I. Right now I am sitting at home in front of my computer, basically feeling miserable.

Today at the hospital everything appeared to be going smoothly. We’d done the paperwork and the nurses had drawn my blood, and I was sitting on a bed in a hospital gown. We were pretty much just waiting for the rest of the family to come in and say goodbye, and then I would go into surgery.

Obviously, that’s not what happened. After a few minutes, the doctor’s assistant came in and informed us that there was a problem with the screws (they were going to be putting rods and screws in my back) and that they most likely would not be able to do the surgery today. Later the doctor came in and said there had been a communication problem, apologized, and sent us home.

Needless to say, we were pretty upset that they’d waited until the last minute to even see if they had everything they needed. But it’s all in God’s hands, you know? I’m sure there was a reason we couldn’t do it today. I can think of a pretty good reason right now, in fact. Some time today, I started experiencing symptoms of a cold; I just hadn’t realized it since I’ve been having really bad allergies lately. So it’s a good thing: I wouldn’t want to be trying to recover from a surgery and a cold at the same time!

The surgery’s been rescheduled for Thursday. Thank you for your prayers so far and please continue to pray! And do pray that my cold disappears by then. I don’t think my nose can take much more of this!

God bless,

-christrocks

Please Be In Prayer!

Willow!!!

Today’s my last normal-ish day before the surgery. I say normal-ish because, well, it isn’t quite normal. My mom’s making calls to the hospital just to make sure we have everything right, my grandma and aunt are in town, and I’m spending my time cuddling Willow and Amber.

Please be praying that the surgery goes well, and that recovery goes well. Thank you and God bless!!

-christrocks

Dear Mama

Dear Mama,

I’m not going to try to be poetic. You know I love to write poems, but I often get so wrapped up in the poem that I forget what I wanted to say.

So what do I want to say? Well, there is so much I could say, and I know I don’t say any of these things often enough.

Happy Mother’s Day from Willow and Amber too!!!

Mama, you make me laugh when I thought I couldn’t laugh any harder; you make me smile when I thought I couldn’t stop crying. You make the best food ever! (And I should quit being lazy and just let you teach me how to cook already). If anyone could see the way we quote movies, they would think we’re nuts, but I think it’s awesome! And I love the way you do funny voices when you tell a story.

I’m so sorry for all the times I say something I shouldn’t have; thank you for being forgiving! Thank you for home schooling me and for teaching me everything you can about eating healthy. And thanks for not giving me everything I ever wanted; we both know 90% of that stuff would have ended up gathering dust in the back of my closet within a week.

Thanks for setting an example by being a Godly wife and mother. Thank you for encouraging me and for listening about my day (even though I spent most of it with you) when you could have just gone to bed.

And I thank God for giving me you! I know the list above is nowhere close to being complete, but let me sum it up like this: You are the best mom in the world!!! Happy Mother’s Day!

Bunches and bunches of love!

-your daughter ♥

God Is Love

Heart-shaped cloud (Photo credit: aivas14)

I was going to write a post today based on my notes from the conference, but when I saw today’s Daily Prompt, I knew that I would have to write about that.

The question: Is there a single idea or definition that runs through all the varieties of love?

Yes. And no. Because all love comes from one thing, but that thing isn’t just an idea or a definition. He’s not even a thing. He’s God.

God is love.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8)

I’m Back!

All in all, it was an awesome trip! On the down side, I’d brought my Kindle Fire along, intending to use it for my Bible and also to write a post to do. If you own a Kindle Fire, here’s a quick tip: Only charge when it’s almost out of battery, and only leave it plugged in until it’s fully charged. Never leave it plugged in overnight. Otherwise, you’ll end up like me. I brought it to the conference expecting it to be fully charged, only to have it tell me that it didn’t have enough battery power to turn on. So I was without a Bible for two days of the conference and didn’t get a chance to write a post. Quite frustrating, but now I know!

“Be nice to me. I Gave Blood Today.”

This isn’t really a normal post; just some thoughts on what’s been going on and what’s coming up. I took a lot of notes during the conference, so I’ll probably be drawing off of that for my posts for the next couple weeks.

Also, my surgery has been scheduled for May 14th, so please be praying! We’re going in for a pre-op meeting tomorrow; we’ll know more of what to expect after that. I’m still not scared or nervous; I’m probably in denial. Just wait–a week from now and, outside of the grace of God, I’ll be having a full-blown panic attack!

Last Tuesday my mom and I went to give blood (in case I need it during my surgery). It was my first time giving blood, and the whole time I couldn’t stop shaking, lol.

That’s all for now!

-christrocks

On The Road

English: iPad with on display keyboard (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tomorrow we’re headed to Atlanta! I am so looking forward to that seven hour drive (not!). But it should be fun. We’re headed up there for a leadership conference, and should be back this weekend. I might write a post one of the nights while at the hotel, but I really don’t like writing on my Kindle Fire. I just don’t do the whole virtual keyboard thing very well. Does anyone know of a physical keyboard I can use with the Kindle Fire?

Anyway, please pray that we’ll have a safe trip and come back filled with the Holy Spirit!

God bless,

-christrocks

Sit Back and Watch?

Red folding chair (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

No matter what your age, you’re aware and might have experienced the fact that throughout your life, you will run into gossipers, bullies, and the like. Most likely, you’ve also been one of the gossipers, maybe one of the bullies. Sometimes we don’t intend to hurt others with our words (and sometimes we fully intend to!), but it’s more than what we ourselves do. It’s great if you do your best not to gossip or make fun of others, but what do you do when you see others gossiping or bullying?

We like to tell ourselves we would do the noble thing and stand up for that person, but sometimes we just sit back and watch.