The Rock Never Trembled

My devotional on Thursday morning included a short story about a ship that crashed against the rocks in England.  A fifteen year old sailor swam to safety on an offshore rock.  He climbed up and waited all night until he was rescued the next morning.  A reporter interviewed him and commented, "You must have been shaking all night as you clung to that rock."  "Yes," the young sailor replied, "I trembled all night with fear and cold, but the rock never trembled once."

I love the image that paints!  I've been thinking about it since Thursday.  There were a lot of ways I could have gone, but really, there's nothing that can be added.  It just simply is.  No matter the storms that come, the Rock never trembles. 

"The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."  (Psalm 18:2)

Repost: Overtaken

I am nearing the end of the book of Deuteronomy in my Bible reading for the year.  This week I read chapter 28.  This chapter contains a promise that Elder Morton spoke into my life 30 years ago.  I wrote about it in 2013, this is a repost with a few edits.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits
~ Psalm 103:2

I think the year was 1988 or so.  I was about 24 at the time, working as the school secretary at Truth Tabernacle Christian School.  I was doing my best to be faithful and leave my future in God's hands.  But sometimes I got discouraged.

One day I was walking from the school office to the church office.  Elder Morton stopped me and said he wanted to talk.  We slipped into the empty sanctuary.  There we sat and there he gave me a promise.  He told me he saw my faithfulness, he knew there were times I was hurting, but he spoke words to me that looking back now have been fulfilled over and over and over.

Elder Morton said, "Kathy, the blessings of God are going to overtake you."

I don't know what I have ever done to deserve the many blessings that have come my way.  Our current situation isn't the first time I have been overtaken by God's blessings...

In 1989, I met Les McElhaney.  He was THE ONE.  The one that God healed of Muscular Dystrophy when he was a little boy, then moved across the country as a college grad.  We married in 1991.  God's hand and blessing was upon both of us.
In 1996, I started working for Amgen, Inc.  The financial blessings of this job were tremendous.  A salary that was amazing, bonuses, stock options, a stock bonus.  I do not have a college degree.  This was truly the blessings of God.
In 2001, God opened the door for us to buy our current home.  The housing market was just starting to take off.  We sold our town home for a profit and bought our house at below market value.  Six months later we couldn't have afforded it.  God's timing on this blessing was perfect!
In 2003, Les got his first job as a Vice President.  This enabled me to quit my job at Amgen and be at home full time.  This was a long awaited blessing to both of us.
There are many, many more.  Daily blessings of health, food on the table, clothes to wear and vehicles to drive.  We've had some lean times in recent years.  Les has been through three job losses in three years.  Each of those times have been stressful, but we have had every need meet.

For five years now we have lived part time in Hawaii.  The one thing about this job that would have made it unacceptable was if Les and I could not be together.  We were not willing to live apart.  God has not only taken care of us, he's overtaken us with His blessings.

I don't want you to think I'm bragging.  I haven't done a thing to deserve this!  But God, He is so good.  Proverbs 10:22 says, "The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it."  I want you to know that tears fill my eyes when I think about that 24 year old who received a promise and how much I have been blessed by the God of heaven.

Deuteronomy 28:1-3 says:

1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

This chapter goes on to list many, many ways the blessings of God are promised.  But in verse 15, the tone changes:

15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:
16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

This chapter has 68 verses -  14 are dedicated to blessings, while the other 54 focus on curses!  I had never realized that.  So while I am overwhelmed by blessings, I am equally thankful that I have not been overtaken by curses.  The curses of the unfaithful far outnumber the blessings of the faithful.

I don't know why there are those who live righteously and still have a life of pain.  I don't understand why Rod was born with hemophilia and was taken from us too soon.  I don't know why Mom was stricken with cancer when she was my age.  While I don't understand and I'm certainly undeserving, I never, ever, want to be unthankful!  So this post is simply to take the time to say, "Thank You, Lord."

Suppose Ye?

My Bible reading yesterday included Luke chapter 13.  As I began this post, I decided to check my blog for anything similar and found a post from March 24, 2010 with this same title, I'm re-posting it with a few additions.

1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Suppose ye? Isn't that what we do so many times? We see someone going through a trial and suppose that it has been brought on because of some sin or other fault in their life. Job's friends were great supposers. Job called them "miserable comforters" as they spent many chapters accusing Job of sin, urging him to repent.

I wonder how often we SUPPOSE when we do not KNOW. Life is full of so many ups and downs. We don't live in the Garden of Eden, we live in a world full of sin. Bad things happen to good people. But with just a nod of the head or a lift of our eyebrow, we suppose, and place blame or pass judgment.

July 20, 2010 I posted "This is Good." Everything in my life hasn't been good, but God always works it for my good.  In that post I wrote about Les asking, "Do you ever question God about what you've been through with Rod and your Mom?" I thought about it, it's a hard question. I definitely miss Mom and Rod, many times I'll think "I wish Rod could see or hear this..." or "I wish I could talk to Mom about that..." but questioning God doesn't do me any good. I choose to trust and say "This is Good" even when it doesn't feel like it or I don't understand. Somehow, I have to trust that God has worked it for my good.

Our words during a trial can make all the difference. They can cause someone to give up completely or keep pressing on. Words spoken without knowledge can lead to irreparable damage. I've said it here many times but if you don't know what to say, the best words in the world are, "I'm praying for you."

The disciples questioned Jesus in John chapter 9:

1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

What if we turned it around and thought, "Wow, they're going through a trial. God must want to manifest Himself in them." How would that change our prayers and words? How would it change our attitude when the trial is our own? When a trial hits, we could examine ourselves, and if we don't have sins that need repenting of, we can say, "Lord, I'm waiting for Your glory to be made manifest." What a difference that would make!

Let's do less supposing and more encouraging!

My Tuesday Trail Run

Welcome to another edition of "We Fall Down..."  or maybe just "Kathy Falls Down!"

I was up early Tuesday morning for a trail run.  I ran 4 miles up the trail.  The last half mile is insanely steep - averaging over 10%.  I took a bunch of pictures before heading back down.

I was cautious that first half mile going down - it's super steep and I didn't want to lose my footing.  After that I picked up my pace and got into a nice groove.  Until about 1.5 miles to go...

I don't really know how it happened, but I twisted my right ankle and went flying!  It was a short flight and I landed with a thud.

It took me a few minutes to get back up.  My left hand was scraped up and so was my right knee.  I wasn't sure which side to try to get up from, but eventually I did.  I limped back to the car.  My right side took the brunt of the fall - mostly my ankle and shoulder.

It just so happened that yesterday was my annual physical.  My ankle was still tender and swollen.  My doctor said it is definitely a sprain and said it would be about six weeks before it is fully recovered.  (I've twisted my ankle numerous times in my life, but it has never been swollen like it is this time - three days later the swelling is going down but still obvious.)  I also received a tetanus shot in my right arm and a pneumonia shot in my left arm.  Just the walking wounded here!

On a positive note, my doctor ordered a bone density scan while I was in the office.  My results were outstanding!  He said I have the bones of a 25 year old.  So in spite of a few tumbles, all my running through the years is paying off with healthy bones!