My friend Michael

Michael is a student at the center where I work. He is in a wheelchair and he cannot speak or move much. He is a precious son of the living God. I have often whispered prayers or scripture in Michael's ears and sometimes he response. I pray for him often and I try to make him laugh. He is very well cared for at the center. Yesterday, Michael was in a funk. His regular teacher was absent and I was his substitute. I could see the frown on his face so I tried to cheer him up. I held up some colorful things for him to look at, but his wonderful smile was missing. At about three in the afternoon, his father walked into the room and began saying funny things. Michael was smiling now! His dear father had arrived! I could just tell they had a wonderful relationship. It was a blessing. His father soon took him home and once again he was happy and at peace. When our dear Jesus seems to be missing, we have a hard time smiling and feeling at peace. Yet when we are blessed with his dear presence, we are so blessed. There is nothing like it. Thanks Lord for using Michael and all of us to fulfill your plan. You have blessed us all, regardless of our situations.

Performing for an audience of One

We went to Mt. Hermon as we do every year for Thanksgiving. That is one of our only family traditions. We go there for a four day Christian conference and we take about fifteen family members. It is wonderful. The women get a break from cooking and cleaning and the cousins get to spend time together. I love not having to perform for anyone. My husband and I are in a performing ministry and it is wonderful and stressful all at the same time. I loved staying away from the computer for a few days and just focusing on God and His amazing creation, spending precious time with my family. On the last day, I was feeling a little down about returning to the "real world." I knew that once again we would be in front of people and be an open book. I used to seek the glamor of performing, but not anymore. I only want to do it now if it brings glory to God and I can experience a bit of God's amazing presence. At the last meal, the camp director came up to us and said he wanted Kevin and David and I to be in a video that would be promoting Mt. Hermon's family Thanksgiving camp. We said we would do it. I asked the Lord if he could allow me to just say what He wanted me to. So often in groups of people, it is hard to be transparent and so it is hard for me to express myself. I was thankful for the moment to do that. No family, job or situation is perfect, but if we surrender to the lord moment by moment, he is always surprising us with new and perhaps old ways to serve Him. I thank Him that sees me in a different light from the one that I see myself in. He sees me through the priceless blood of His beloved son Jesus and I am made acceptable in Him.

Michael

Michael is someone I have only seen twice, but he has made a huge impression on me. He is a single man in his forties who lives in a group home near me. When he was a baby in the womb, his mother tied to abort him, but it failed. As a result, he is very deformed, has stumps for arms, has no teeth or tongue and has a very challenging life. He grew up in a hospital where they did research on him. He eventually went to live in several different group homes. His parents died, but his siblings reconnected with him after many years. Even with everything going against him, he still can think, speak a little and read. He is a living, breathing miracle of God. Michael is amazing. God can use each of us no matter what handicaps we have. We all have a name and He is gracious to us and blesses us with many talents and gifts, whether they are recognized or not. I pray for Michael often and I pray he will be blessed in many ways. I thank God for the impact he has had on my life.

A Unique Name

Every year our family attends a Thanksgiving Conference at Mt. Hermon in the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains surrounded by giant Redwood Trees. Once, about three years ago, we picked up our welcome packet and there was a name tag in there that said, "Unisha Ledbetter." I laughed as I realized they had gotten confused and put the wrong name tag in our bag. I wore it for fun and my family enjoyed the humor. When I got to came, I found the real Unisha and spoke with her about the confusion. They gave me another name badge. Sometimes we wonder if God is really aware of exactly who we are and the difficulties we are going through. We can be sure that He knows it all and is working it all together for His good.....even the heart-wrenching pain we go through. He knows us by name. We can never escape from His presence or His love. He is so great that He knows what each and every one of us is thinking at the same time. I find that astounding and I praise Him that I can trust Him completely, even when I don't understand, feel distant or afraid. He can use each one of us in times when others don't notice us or don't remember our names. He always does and continues to assure us in many ways each day that He stays close to us. This Thanksgiving I am thankful for so many things. I am blessed with an amazing family, friends and church. But even more than that, I know that He is with me at all times and His power and presence in my life are very real. He allows me to serve Him which is amazing. I am thankful for His forgiveness, grace and glory in my life. I am especially thankful that I have the hope of one day seeing Him face to face. May God bless you all abundantly at this Holiday Season.

Veteran's Day

Yesterday was a holiday. It was Veteran's Day and I had my agenda all planned. I decided that my husband and I would do something that I wanted to do. From the moment I stepped out of bed, things went according to a different plan. We dropped our son off early at the church to join his friends going to Disneyland. I though I would go by the school district and drop off an application. Then I got there and remembered it was closed for the holiday. My husband had met a friend for breakfast and since I had his keys, I drove by to give them to him. It rained. We both needed to go to our daughter's work, pick up her car and take it to have some work done on it. Then we stopped by our favorite cookie shop and I bought a double chocolate chip cookie. I was trying to think of something we would both enjoy in the rain when we decided to just come home for awhile. My husband got a call from another friend, inviting him to lunch! Wow, this day was certainly not going as I had planned. I went to the store and saw someone in need and bought him a chicken breast. I came home did some work and then it was time to pick up my daughter's car and take it to her. It was wonderful seeing my daughter and meeting some of the people she worked with. Yet, it was a bit of an off day. I did end up making a fire in our wood stove and that was wonderful. Everything is good when you are in the habit of giving thanks for all things.

We are all the same

In God's eyes, we are all the same. We all have hopes, dreams and challenges. Some of us have special challenges. Some of us are blind, deaf or we may have some other handicap. I read a story about a blind man named Michael who was never treated differently than anyone else. He was treated as every other family member, so his blindness did not handicap him nearly as much as it could have. He went to school, learned everything the others were learning and even rode a bike! His parents would always receive calls from neighbors informing them that there son was riding down the street on his bike. He grew up to become a very studious young man, attaining a college degree.
So often we make excuses for ourselves because of whatever handicap we may have. We say we can't do things because of whatever we feel is holding us back. We all have things that hold us back, but when God looks at us, his children, he only sees His son. Each one of us has value and worth in Him.

First Time at Disneyland

My son David is fourteen. The first time we took him to Disneyland, he was four years old. It happened to rain very hard that day and I must admit I was really disappointed. We all kept as warm and dry as possible but after four hours of the downpour, we were all ready to go home. On top of that, we waited over an hour for David to meet Mickey Mouse and when the big moment came, I realized I had left my camera at the hotel! Needless to say, Disneyland was not a big hit with my son. We left and I think I may have returned alone later on that day. Once again, my son is in Disneyland today, ten years later. He is there with many of his close friends and rain or shine, he will have a wonderful day! I am happy for him and for the joy this day will bring him. I would like to be there myself, but just knowing he is making some memories that will last a lifetime is enough for me. I'm a mom with a wonderful son. I am so blessed.

The Praying Mantis

A friend who I haven't seen in many years brought me much laughter. She was very special and we use to love spending time together. We were soul mates and enjoyed laughing and talking. Once I went to visit her after she had moved to Georgia. We went to a lovely little tourist town and enjoyed it very much. I remember that both of us found a praying mantis on the sidewalk. My friend Pam got down on her knees beside him and folded her hands like she was praying. It was really adorable and something I will never forget. In my mind, I can still see her doing it. Some friends are really hard to forget. We have a friend named Jesus who is closer to a brother to us. We are blessed that at any time we can call upon Him for His love and friendship when others are not around.

Oleander Madness

We have been living in our current house for ten years and there has always been a huge Oleander bush separating us from our neighbor who had voiced on many occasions that he wanted us to cut it down. We were considering doing that but we had to wait until the end of October as we promised a friend a 90th Birthday party at our home. Two days before the party, the neighbor came over with fire in his eyes. He told my husband firmly that he did not want to wait any longer and that he wanted the bush down that very day. Kevin decided to go ahead and cut it down. It took him three hours and he still did not get it to perfection as the neighbor asked. The only problem was that we were scheduled to have table and chairs for fifty people delivered to our house the next day. We had no room!! Oleander leaves and branches were literally everywhere, decorating our front and back yards! The people came to deliver chairs and did not know where to put them. We had some challenges on our hands. It was amazing how determined our neighbor had been at the very time when we needed him to give us some slack.
That describes our enemy's attacks. He is relentless in messing with us, yet our God is still greater. He is Higher and stronger and more able to help us than we will ever know. No matter what is thrown at us, We will win the battle through our faith in Him. The party went on as planned and it was a beautiful family reunion who has never really been spoiled in his life, yet he has given so much to others. It was worth the struggle. When we see our Savior someday, we will know that all our service to Him was certainly worth it. We will know in a moment that He has overcome all the evil in our life and we at last free and home with Him.