"His eye is on the sparrow and I know he's watching me."
As I thought about the events of the day this line from a song came to me. And as I lay in bed, not being able to sleep, I figured I would capture my thoughts while they are racing through my head.
Today was not the best of my days...at least it wasn't looking like that until later in the day. I'm struggling with not having a goal to put my work toward. Being unemployed for four months has begun to take it toll on one part of me. On the other hand I have had time to think which usually doesn't happen when I am so busy.
I had trouble getting motivated today. Finally, after lunch, I went to the library to find some books to read. I looked in the biography section. In fact, I looked at every book in the biography section. I ended up with one about Henry Ford published in 2005 and another about Thomas Edison from 1957. Both guys were friends and both of them have inspired me with their accomplishments.
I got lost in the book until sometime around 5 pm when I began to watch the news. Then shortly before 6 a phone call came in. Pat took the call and after a couple of minutes handed the phone to me. It was a friend I hadn't talked to in 30 years.
Shirley called. I met her in 1975 and we sold real estate together for a few years. I never went to church with her. Never saw her much during the 5 or so years I was associated with Dutchland Realty. But she called me tonight. Why? God had put me on her mind recently and she had been praying for me.
Again, we hadn't talked to each other or seen each other for 30 years. She didn't know whether I was in OH, CA or overseas somewhere. She didn't know whether I was still following Christ or not. She had no idea...except this prompting to call me and pray for me before she called.
It took her a little bit to find me. First, she ran into a former neighbor, fellow realtor and member of a church we attended. She got the number of the realty firm's owner's wife in FL from him. Then she called her and got our number in PA. Then she called on the phone. Tonight.
Her church was in need of a pastor and my name came to her mind. She realized that she could just forget she heard that and not call. But she persisted, found me and called. She didn't know if I was pastoring, retired or tending bar. But she called to see if she was following the signals right.
To me that says, straight from my heavenly Father, that he knows where I am and he hasn't forgotten me in the loneliness I have felt the last several months. He knows my gifts and abilities and he knows exactly where he wants me to be. He just wanted to remind me that I wasn't forgotten...by using an obedient servant of his from 30 years ago to find me and call.
That's pretty cool. That's the loving heart that I follow. That's the Father I love.
Two things to think about. Who has God been prompting you to call or get in touch with or what has he been prompting you to do that you've put off? It's those little nudgings that he uses to get us involved in his ministry to others. And secondly, how has God been showing you that you are not forgotten? Celebrate it right now!
"His eye is on the sparrow and I know he's watching [you].
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
PTSD
I finally finished reading the 37 book series on WWII by Time/Life Books. There are so many things I can write about but a prayer request by a friend sparked this one.
Our work with emotionally broken people exposed us to so much. I'm sure we heard of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome) along the way. I know I worked with a woman once who had been shot in the head by her mate in an effort to kill her. He then committed suicide right before her eyes. We wept with her as she told her tragic story. I can't imagine the images that she deals with as she remembers that experience.
A friend asked us to pray for her son-in-law recently as he was off to Afghanistan. She also included her daughter and grandchildren because of the impact on them. I can relate to that.
I was the child of a man who experienced WWII...a member of a whole generation of fathers who experienced things in the war that no human should have to face. That's why many of them never talked about their experiences with anyone but their fellow GI's. The things they saw and endured were not for dinner table discussions. They also shut down emotionally. It was the only way they could cope with what they had experienced.
When Saving Private Ryan hit the movie theaters a few years ago many WWII vets went to see the movie. The first five minutes or so of the film depict the horrors many troops experienced when they landed on Normandy on DDay. I remember reading accounts of men who finally wept when they saw that depiction. It was the first time they had faced something that triggered the deeply held emotional pain. Some of them talked for the first time since they returned from the war about what they had experienced.
"War is hell" as someone has said. And we have men in my generation who have experienced the horrors of Vietnam, living on the streets, trying to have a life with families while carrying the devastation of that war around in their hearts.
Now we have a whole other generation who are returning home from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan with the emotional baggage of what they experienced knowing their life was on the line every moment they walked around. Not sure if they could trust a local or even a child not to be carrying a weapon to kill them.
I have also read that we are saving more soldiers from their battlefield wounds because of improved medical treatment on the battlefield. Some of those saved are facing a lifetime of coping with the debilitating injuries that they were saved from dying of. Emotional scars for sure. Head injuries. Loss of mobility. Loss of multiple limbs.
Something needs to be done to avoid having another generation of children raised with detached mothers and fathers (yes, some women have suffered battlefield wounds as well). What can we do? How do we need to pray? How can we support those who have returned from those experiences and give them the opportunity to receive the healing touch from a loving heavenly Father?
I may soon have the opportunity to be in Washington DC. One of the thoughts I have had is to spend some time at Walter Reed Hospital where many of those veterans are being treated. Do you know anyone in your circle of friends or acquaintances who may be suffering from PTSD? Can you give them the opportunity to have you listen to the pain of their hearts? How would the Father have you pray for them as you relate to them? I hope to soon find out.
Our work with emotionally broken people exposed us to so much. I'm sure we heard of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome) along the way. I know I worked with a woman once who had been shot in the head by her mate in an effort to kill her. He then committed suicide right before her eyes. We wept with her as she told her tragic story. I can't imagine the images that she deals with as she remembers that experience.
A friend asked us to pray for her son-in-law recently as he was off to Afghanistan. She also included her daughter and grandchildren because of the impact on them. I can relate to that.
I was the child of a man who experienced WWII...a member of a whole generation of fathers who experienced things in the war that no human should have to face. That's why many of them never talked about their experiences with anyone but their fellow GI's. The things they saw and endured were not for dinner table discussions. They also shut down emotionally. It was the only way they could cope with what they had experienced.
When Saving Private Ryan hit the movie theaters a few years ago many WWII vets went to see the movie. The first five minutes or so of the film depict the horrors many troops experienced when they landed on Normandy on DDay. I remember reading accounts of men who finally wept when they saw that depiction. It was the first time they had faced something that triggered the deeply held emotional pain. Some of them talked for the first time since they returned from the war about what they had experienced.
"War is hell" as someone has said. And we have men in my generation who have experienced the horrors of Vietnam, living on the streets, trying to have a life with families while carrying the devastation of that war around in their hearts.
Now we have a whole other generation who are returning home from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan with the emotional baggage of what they experienced knowing their life was on the line every moment they walked around. Not sure if they could trust a local or even a child not to be carrying a weapon to kill them.
I have also read that we are saving more soldiers from their battlefield wounds because of improved medical treatment on the battlefield. Some of those saved are facing a lifetime of coping with the debilitating injuries that they were saved from dying of. Emotional scars for sure. Head injuries. Loss of mobility. Loss of multiple limbs.
Something needs to be done to avoid having another generation of children raised with detached mothers and fathers (yes, some women have suffered battlefield wounds as well). What can we do? How do we need to pray? How can we support those who have returned from those experiences and give them the opportunity to receive the healing touch from a loving heavenly Father?
I may soon have the opportunity to be in Washington DC. One of the thoughts I have had is to spend some time at Walter Reed Hospital where many of those veterans are being treated. Do you know anyone in your circle of friends or acquaintances who may be suffering from PTSD? Can you give them the opportunity to have you listen to the pain of their hearts? How would the Father have you pray for them as you relate to them? I hope to soon find out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)