Doing My Work Heartily...

I haven't had anything interesting to say since losing my job... not that I ever did! And I STILL don't! I've worked more and harder since being let go than I have in a long time. I'll explain: For at least the short-term I got picked up by the company that Emanuel is outsourcing to, primarily to work on the Radiology module which isn't "going over" to the new company for reasons I don't know enough "computer geek" to explain or even understand myself. So I'm still at my old workstation doing Radiology, while not having to answer phones or do any of the other troubleshooting I used to help with, since I DON'T REALLY WORK THERE! In the meantime I'm trying to learn their main systems, which so far don't strike me as very user-friendly, but it's probably too soon to tell. Since being "canned" (I love using that word! It sounds so dramatic!) I have worked every single day except last Sunday. And I'll be working today, as well. I think they may have underestimated the volume of work that'd be coming from Emanuel.

This morning I feel like I've been run over by a truck; the fibromyalgia is screaming at me, with my dirty house chiming in. So why would I want to do this to myself, while seemingly helping out an employer who maybe didn't show a lot of loyalty to me (and others)? For the very simple reason that I felt like the Lord asked me to. With several Bible verses to reinforce the idea. Didn't tell me... He asked me, very lovingly and graciously. He's my very life... How could I refuse Him?

No one asked about the dentist, but I'll tell you anyway. I have a big phobia about going to the dentist. I needed two fillings redone on opposite sides of my mouth. In a seemingly nonsensical move I decided to have them both done at the same time just to get the whole thing out of the way. Guess when I got that done? You guessed it... on the very last day of my dental coverage. Go figure... "more than coincidence"!

Still no word on the COBRA insurance, but Elizabeth is finally improving now on steroids.

Thanks for all the prayers, and for all the words of encouragement. The Family of God rocks!!!

A Sabbath Rest

After 17 years as an employee of Emanuel Medical Center, I was let go yesterday as a cost-cutting measure. Not just me, but all the "in-house" transcriptionists. Effective immediately, Emanuel is now outsourcing all medical transcription.

It's an interesting time. I find myself genuinely excited about what the Lord has in store for me.

You can ask my Mike if this is true: Several weeks ago seemingly out of the clear blue sky I told him, "for some reason I just feel like I'm not going to be working at Emanuel much longer."

So it was kind of cool to realize firsthand that (1) yes, the Lord DOES speak to His children today, and (2) I guess I really really AM one of His children.

Forgiveness is really very freeing. I highly recommend it! If you are reading this and are harboring any unforgiveness in your heart, I say for your own sake, offload that emotion as quickly as you are able. The Lord WILL avenge, if any vengeance is called for. His Word says that is in His hand... so leave it there and rest!

I do ask for prayer for Emanuel: That those who make these kinds of decisions would always seek the Lord and trust in His ways. May they never dishonor that holy Name: God with us!

Meanwhile, I say that life can be hard, and we need to rest in Him. Count on nothing but the Lord. He is our everything, a Romans 8:28 kind of God. He is for us, so who can be against us? No one I'm going to worry about! I belong to Him... Hope you do, too!

Drivin' That Train...

If you happened to be out and about last night, and on noting the driving misdeeds of others, wondered, “Where’s a cop when you need one?” the answer to your question is that they were all at our place. Yup, every single one, I’m pretty sure.

It seems a traffic stop on Lander somewhere near us netted one stolen car and one of two car thieves. The other got away, or so he thought. Our neighbor saw him jump our fence, which set off our alarm and our dogs. Soon there were like 50 police officers, county and city, plus a K-9 unit, all over our shop yard. (I kept thinking about all the dog poop they were stepping in ;-()...) After about an hour and a half they pinned down his location on our roof and called the Fire Department for a ladder truck and got him down.

It was all pretty exciting at first. But after a bit I just went back to bed and prayed (as best I could amid all the barking and shouting). I really did! I prayed that they’d get the bad guy, but also, I prayed the bad guy’d end up knowing Jesus (I know, silly me). I wonder if the guy hiding on the roof prayed. “God, if you just get me out of this, I promise I’ll never steal another car! I’ll never do drugs again! I’ll register all my guns! I’ll floss every day!” And now he’s sitting in a jail cell thinking, “Well, God didn’t show up!”

I don’t know, I guess I should be happy: The Good Guys won. But I feel sad that there ARE bad guys. What a life! A life my Lord died for. And multiply that life by… how many? How many lives wasted in this methamphetamine-infested valley? I just don’t think anyone grows up thinking, “You know what? I’m going go grow up and be a drug addict, and I’ll pay for it by being a car thief! Can’t wait!” No, I think probably it happens in little devil-baited steps, and no one sees that locomotive coming until it’s run them down.

It affects us all.


I really don’t know why I’m blogging about this. I didn’t plan to get on this soapbox. But now that I’m here...This is something that’s really been knocking on my heart lately. Maybe it’s because of the bad area Mike and I live in…or the drug house that everyone knows about, just three doors up from us. Or the young, desperate-looking woman I saw out front there last Saturday morning.

Ever look into the eyes of a tweaker? It’s not easy to do; they avoid eye contact. But then, most people don’t go out of their way to make eye contact with a tweaker (Jesus would have). But you’ve seen them, even if you didn't know it. You've seen them if you've lived here for at least a day. If you do look in their eyes, you will see the definition of the word “haunted.”

Not sure how to end this. I guess I would just ask for prayer for our rooftop rambler. We (Mike and I) truly believe the Lord sets His angels about this place (our shop). For some reason they let this guy get past them, and maybe it’s the best thing that could have happened to him. Maybe God really DID show up on his behalf last night. I pray it’s so!

(By the way, those of my generation will recognize the title of this post from the lyrics of an old Grateful Dead song. Different drug, same train.)

Book-O-Rama

I'm a fool for books. Especially books about prayer. My husband, Michael, makes fun of me about it. Well, he makes fun of me about a lot of things, but my book thing is high on the list. I just counted six books that were on my bedside table (meaning I'm "reading" them) when I was stashing messes at Christmastime. All Christian nonfiction books. When I was pulling out presents to wrap I found stashes and stashes of other books I haven't cracked and have no other place for. I'm like an alcoholic who hides his bottles in the toilet tank. I'd stash books there if they just wouldn't get so dang soggy.

If Pastor Dave quotes a book on Sunday, I write the title in the margin of my note-taking sheet. Michael tries to slap the pen out of my hand. BUT! Two of my favorite books that I actually DID get through came from that venue: The Barbarian Way by Erwin Raphael McManus, and Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I loved them both. I tried to get my daughter to read them. I knew she'd love them, too. Helpful hint: You can give someone a book, but you can't make them read it. Hey, it works both ways. I lot of my stash consists of books others have given me that I've yet to read.

Anyway, I picked up another new/old book the other day that I want to start. It's Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? by Philip Yancey, another of my favorite authors. Tried to get my daughter to read Rumors of Another World by the same guy, but no go!

So anyway, I'm going to start this book and I hope to share with you from it along the way.

I literally just now opened it and Part One is called "Keeping Company with God." Wasn't that a quote from Pastor Dave a few posts back? Another "coincidence"? Or a jab in my spiritual side that I'm on the right track? And under the section title is this quote, which I'll leave you with:

"For prayer exists, no question about that. It is the peculiarly human
response to the fact of this endless mystery of bliss and brutality, impersonal
might and lyric intimacy that composes our experience of life." -- Patricia Hampl

"Availeth Much"

Coincidence: A striking occurrence of two or more events at one time apparently by mere chance.

I will file this posting under “more than coincidence,” a term I’m actually borrowing from the popular publication, “Guideposts,” in which it’s a regular department they feature. I really enjoy “Guideposts,” by the way, which I totally hated it in my “running away from God” days. But that’s another story.

Anyway, I love coincidences. Because I totally don’t believe in them. No, really! I have come to believe that God has ordained every day, every moment of our lives from creation. (Some might argue that if that’s true, He can’t hold us accountable for our choices. Well He CAN and DOES.)

So when “coincidences” happen, I look for God. He’s there. I think I can safely say He’s ALWAYS there.

Around the time in my life described in my last – and first – post, I was also seeing the words “pray” and “prayer” everywhere. EVERYWHERE! It was weird. I could pick up a secular magazine at the doctor’s office and randomly open to a big feature on prayer. I would drive down the highway and see like two billboards and three bumper stickers about prayer. Just in a half-mile trip! I would catch a news story on TV at a friend’s (we don’t have TV at our house except for movies we rent) and it would be about prayer. And it wasn’t even a Christian station! You get the picture. I got the message.

Well, I’ve struggled with the idea of doing this blog about prayer, as some of you will recall if I ever get around to inviting anyone to read this. When I was getting ready to set up my blog I couldn’t decide what to name it. I tried to think of catchy names, but could only think of non-catchy ones. One idea was “not a seasoned prayer warrior.” Duh! Why state the obvious, and in the process possibly offend those who really ARE seasoned prayer warriors, whom I so look up to and want to hear from!

Then “Availeth Much” popped into my head. Popped, but with this message. “I want you to call it ‘Availeth Much.’”

“Ah, sounds kinda, I don’t know, archaic, maybe a little presumptuous, don’t you think, Lord?”

“Availeth Much is the name.” Whew! All RIGHTY then. “Availeth Much” it is. Now I will tell you early and often that I don’t hear from God in an audible voice, and never have except for one time long ago when He said, and I do quote, “This is the place.” But that’s another story, as well.

I knew that “availeth much” comes from a Bible verse that says, in the KJV, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” But I had no idea where exactly that verse was. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not thinking or saying I’m righteous. No, no, no, no. No. OH no. But I do know that when we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, God sees us as righteous. Literally as righteous as Jesus. And that’s the message I feel the Lord wants me to get out there. That in Jesus, our prayers really do make a difference. Really and truly.

Well here’s the coincidence. The very next day Pastor Dave spoke on prayer (a “coincidence” in and of itself), AND the key verse and memory verse from the message was the very one that had “popped” into my head the day before. I was floored. “Okay, God, I get it!”

James 5:16 says in the NLT, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.” Or as my NASB has it, “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

So I say, let’s clothe ourselves in His righteousness and PRAY!