Urgent Need

Greetings from South Carolina!  Les and I are on a getaway that I’ll blog about when we return. I wanted to share an urgent need regarding a cycling friend of ours in Hawaii.  We met Bernard and his wife, Jennifer, at Les’ first cycling race in 2013.  Bernard was hit by a car on Sunday. This gives me such a sick feeling, knowing it could be Les, or even me.  Another friend, Chris, has set up a GoFundMe account to help with expenses and I just wanted to share it here.  Even if you can’t give money, please pray for our friends.   Click on the link here.

Bernard Doria, Friend to many, Father and Husband, Nurse and enthusiastic promoter of safe cycling and fitness throughout the community was severely injured by a hit and run motorist.  His family needs our support as a community in this difficult time.  All proceeds will go to help his family as he is the primary earner and his wife will need to take time from her work to help him recover.  He also provides a home for his parents who share their residence.

His recovery will take several months, at least, as his injuries include compound fractures of arm and leg and broken jaw and internal injuries.  The family will need our assistance anyway we can to support daily living, medical and legal cost going forward.  They need the support ASAP as he is currently in the hospital and will be for the foreseeable future.

Link to news report below
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2021/04/26/truck-overtaking-another-vehicle-hits-critically-injures-bicyclist-ewa-beach/

https://www.khon2.com/local-news/pickup-truck-critically-injures-bicyclist-in-ewa-beach-flees-scene/


On Behalf of the Doria’s ‘Ohana:

For all of you who know Bernard, you know how kind and well-liked he is.  An overall great person to his family and his community with a heart of gold  even more evident in the care he provides for his community as a nurse. They would like to sincerely thank each and everyone one in advance for your generosity to help cover his  medical bills. We all know that he will have a long journey ahead of him but with your support he will get through this hurdle. 

Thank you for loving Bernard and for your support.

Repost: Sheep

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm studying Psalm 23.  Today's devotional had a tidbit about sheep that I did not know, "Under the blistering sun, he’d lead the sheep to water—but not just any water. He would lead them to still waters since sheep won’t drink if the water moves too fast."  This post was written when my blog was less than a year old.

While reading "The Day Christ Died" by Jim Bishop (published in 1957), I read a few things about sheep. One is the fact that sheep know their shepherd's whistle. Several flocks can converge, but when one shepherd starts whistling to call his sheep, only his sheep move toward him. Jesus said in John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."


I wanted to know if sheep are truly considered dumb animals. From Sheep 101, I found: "People often call sheep "stupid," because they don't act independently. Sheep are not stupid. Their only protection from predators is to stay in the flock and follow the sheep in front of them. At the same time, there is a growing body of evidence that sheep may actually possess some smarts." Ever notice that about people? Those that stay close to the flock are safe from predators, when one starts pulling away from the flock, they put themselves in danger.


Also "In the Day Christ Died" was this line that really caught my attention: "when lightning flashes and thunder rolls, the sheep look not at the sky but at the shepherd." Where do you look when storms arise in your life?

Psalm 23

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Repost: Is He Your Shepherd?

My Bible reading this week is a study of the twenty third Psalm.  I'm sure it must be the most well known of all the Psalms.  It's such a beautiful, yet simple passage.  I have a couple of posts that pertain to Psalm 23 and I wanted to re-share them.  The first one was written in 2016:

Last night was a tremendous Bible Study at New Life Pentecostal.  Pastor McGriffin read just the first two verses of Psalm 23.  He said this is a very familiar passage, but many of us suffer from short term memory loss so it's a good idea to take notes in church.  I'm so glad I was taking these notes!

The Lord is my shepherd...

This is a personal and interactive relationship.  It becomes a relationship based on our confidence in who our God is.

I shall not want...

Because I have confidence in His shepherding skills I do not have to worry about my needs or wants.  When my focus is correct I do not have to fear.

Is He your Shepherd? Or are you, in your mind, just one of the flock? When there is daily interaction with the shepherd the automatic by-product is the sheep trust the shepherd and have no fear.

Anxiety should speak volumes to us.  That needs to be repeated.  Anxiety should speak volumes to us.  Are we really trusting the shepherd?

There is a difference between receiving what God has for me and not getting what I want.  The vast majority of Americans don't know what it is to be in want.  We take things for granted.  Sheep that are confident don't get distressed over what they don't have.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures...

God doesn't make us do anything.  The word "maketh" here does not mean to force but to have made provision for.  God made a place for us to lie down.  Sheep do not like to lie down - they sleep standing up.  We are the same way when things aren't going our way.  The Lord maketh (provides) a place of rest.  

Because of the faithfulness of the shepherd, the sheep trust him.  We repeated several times, "The Lord is my shepherd and I trust my shepherd."

There is no need for anxiety.  For sheep to lie down there has to be a tremendous amount of trust.  Sheep are vulnerable when they lie down, but they look to the shepherd for protection.

He leadeth me beside the still waters...

Still waters are hard to come by in our busy, over-scheduled lives.  There is a place of rest in a busy and crazy world.  We need both physical and emotional rest.

God wants us to have time to recuperate.  We need times of recuperation.   

We need to value hitting the pause button and taking trips by the still waters. We need to learn what it is to calm ourselves.  When we're hurting and feeling stressed, we must find a place of rest.  We need rest and calm to navigate life.

The opposite of still waters is a place of explosion.

God is doing everything to create a place of rest.  The biggest mistake you can make is believing you can work through every problem of life on your own.

There is a great need for spiritual lifeguards.  People who are looking for those who are drowning in the sea of life, who can bring calm to others.  We can't do that if we don't have calm and rest in our own lives.

We have the ability to be calm and bring calmness.  The church is a place of calmness.  This is a place to come in and lie down.

There are times when we are so stressed, our thinking is so messed up, we don't think we can even pray.

When we are in stillness God can send things to cleanse us of the parasites of life.  It takes the calm place to clean off what does not belong.  We have to learn the value of quiet time, a time to take a deep breath, listening for the still small voice.

At this point of the lesson, the Great Shepherd, the Prince of Peace took over.  There was such a beautiful, calming move of His Spirit that I put my pen down and closed my eyes, just listening to Pastor McGriffin.  He continued teaching a few more minutes.  The spirit in the building was so sweet as Pastor McGriffin began to sing...

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
There's just something about that name
Master, Savior, Jesus
Like the fragrance after the rain
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Let all heaven and earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms shall all pass away
But there's something about that name.

The congregation joined in, singing softly with no instruments, but with such a spirit of calm.  It wasn't a time to shout, but to quietly absorb the Word that was spoken.  Pastor McGriffin closed with these words, "In a world spinning out of control, we need to find the place of rest in the calm of God."

I knew I would be blogging about this subject this morning.  I just didn't know I would be put to the test before I got a chance to write about it!  Les rode his bike to work this morning.  No big deal, I can watch his progress on my phone... unless he leaves his phone here like he did this morning!  So I had a choice, spend the next 45 minutes anxiously waiting to hear from him, or trust the Shepherd.  I chose to trust.  I prayed and said, "God, You were going to watch him whether he had his phone or not."  And I was able to calmly wait to hear from him.

Friday Update

 It's been a few weeks since I posted about my weight loss journey so I thought I'd give an update.

A little over a week ago I got really sick.  Pre-2020, I would have just let it take its course, but you know, COVID.  I went to the doctor last Friday and it was confirmed that I had strep throat.  I was pretty sure that was the case because it is the one illness I have had repeatedly through the years.  I started on an antibiotic on Friday.  Sadly, I had to stay home from church on Sunday since I still wasn't feeling good at all.  I've slowly come out of it and was able to go out for a five mile run/walk this morning.  At least it wasn't COVID, right?

 

As far as my weight loss goes, I've continued doing really well with my eating.  When my throat was at its worst, all I wanted for several days was yogurt, pudding and ice cream.  I've stayed within my points budget throughout and hoped for the best. Today was weigh in day for week 15 and I am now down 22.5 pounds!  That continues to be an average of 1.5 pounds per week.

Obviously, seeing so much movement on the scale is a huge motivator, but I'm also feeling so much better overall.  I'm trying not to spend too much time kicking myself over the fact that I gained the weight at all, or that I didn't do something about it sooner.  That is the past.  Today I choose to healthy, even as I recover from strep throat!