A Downy’s Message

As we enter the eighth month of our journey with Lyme disease my 13 year old daughter drew this woodpecker and wrote these words:

" '…even the birds and animals have much they could teach thee…'( from Job 12: 7,8 ).

It is here told us in the Bible, as I have experienced— that birds are our spiritual teachers. They are God's messengers; angels hidden in delicate patterns of feathers, here to comfort the woeful spirit.
Every time that my mom faced an especially difficult or discouraging bump along the painful trail of having Lyme disease, the discouragement hit me too. And in EVERY one of those instances God brought us both comfort though his amazing nature world:
~ Near the beginning of the journey when situations seemed out of hand—THERE was a Belted Kingfisher ( and there's no pond around), and many other little birds that we don't usually see- just twenty feet out the window.

All along the road, birds, sent by God- guided as they were into Noah's ark- have been bringing comforting messages to us right out the window ( right up to the present time).
~ In the recent journey when we didn't know what step to take next —THERE was a Downy Woodpecker tapping peacefully on small popular twigs, resting under God's caring hand; approaching life one moment at a time- trusting the Almighty above.

You, too, in difficult circumstances can take it one day at a time, trusting God. And if you do, you'll find that God does not suffer his trusting one's to be loaded with a heavier burden than they can bear, just as God did not allow Satan to load Job with any more loss or suffering than He knew Job could bear. And remember- beyond Job's suffering was a brighter future."

Pine Grosbeak

I finished 21 days of daily IV antibiotic treatments which I received at the hospital. I had been scheduled for 28 days but was physically unable to complete the treatment. Several days later I returned to the hospital for an X-ray on my right knee. Because of the Lyme disease I can hardly walk and it has been this way for awhile now.

I've long believed in birds as messenger's- sent from the Creator above. The last bird was a pine grosbeak who showed up one morning outside our cabin window the day I needed to make a decision regarding my treatment. And when I saw the bird I knew at once the message sent from above-rest and put your trust in Me. And so I did. Like the bird outside my window I refused to worry and in the quietness of the cabin perched in the wilderness my daughter and I call home I was content in His care.
Sent from my iPhone

A Sparrow

"I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop" (Psalm 102:7). The psalmist feels alone. In verse 10 he says, "Because of thine indignation and thy wrath; for thou hast lifted me up and cast me down." God had brought tragedy to the psalmist's life and now to mine. After 50 days on an oral antibiotic the Lyme bacteria has continued to grow and invade my body. And when the psalmist cries, "My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass," (verse 11) he is not only speaking about his experience but mine also. In the darkness the psalmist holds onto the sovereignty of God's rule and pleads, "..please don't take me away in the middle of my life," (verse 24).

I have now started daily IV antibiotics administered at the hospital. When I consider the past 13 years of raising my daughter alone (she is 13) God has been faithful. He has provided for our daily needs and He is continuing to do that now. One day at a time. I praise and thank Him for meeting our daily needs. In this inky blackness of suffering He is there holding my daughter and I in the palm of His hand.