This past weekend, one of my dear friend's son was burned. He received burns to his face, chest, shoulder and arms. This young man has shown such great courage and strength through it all. He received minor surgery from one of the best burn facilities around. He returned home and is now on the road to recovery.
As I have prayed for this young man daily, I can't help but to be filled with tons of joy and praise just thinking about what God has in store for him. I know that this whole experience has been a very painful, frightening, and nerve wrecking time for him and his family. The best thing through all of this has been that God has been in control. He was there when this young man was on the burn pile, He was there with the paramedics when the father met them with his son, He was there when the mother received that sinking feeling in her stomach and heart because of news that one of her boys had been hurt, He was there at the hospital when the ambulance arrived and was met by what seemed like 50 doctors, He was there on the helicopter ride entertaining this young man with a view of wildlife in the fields, He was there meeting this young man as he arrived at one of the best burn victim hospitals around and was by himself, He was in the vehicle with the parents as they had to drive the four hour ride to reach their son who had been transported, God was with the young man through surgery, his journey home and He is still there with this young man and his family!
A family leaning on God during times of pain and suffering is better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
A community coming together and loving this family like Jesus loves is better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
God hearing thousands of prayers for a young man is better than a Hallelujah!
We pour out our miseries, God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are, The honest cries of breaking hearts...are better than a Hallelujah!!!
Thank you Lord for your mercy and blessings on the Patrick family this week! I pray you continue to heal Clayton and speak to him during this time. Lord, may he grow to be a "mighty" soldier for you! We pray for complete healing and can't wait to see him back on the baseball field! Amen!
With much love for the Patrick family,
Tonya
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Week of New Adventures
This past Saturday, our baby boy, Camron, lost his first tooth. Camron said that the tooth fairy is really a tooth angel. The tooth angel's job is to take all the teeth back to God because he wants them all in heaven! Well, it sounds good to me. Who knows, maybe God could use all the teeth at the "pearly gates"!
This week was also the first day of school for Justin and Camron. Justin is entering his sophmore year in high school and Camron started 1st grade at the "big" elementary school.
And finally, tomorrow will be the day that our oldest son leaves home for college. He has been packing all week and taking care of last minute issues before moving. Even though he will only be an hour away from home, it is a roller coaster of emotions for us. We are excited for him as he starts this new adventure in life but at the same time, we fight back tears as we think about how our daily lives are going to change with him not sitting at the dinner table, playing the wii with Camo, throwing the baseball and arguing with Justin (lol) , or just sitting in the living room hanging out with his parents. We pray for God's love, mercy, grace, guidance, wisdom and comfort as Ryan spreads his wings and departs from our "nest". Our oldest "eaglet" is spreading his wings and about to take flight into this world. Isaiah 40:31 "but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
I know it sounds crazy and abnormal to hear of a family that has one son in elementary school, one son in high school and one son in college, but Rodney and I are blessed beyond imagination and our cup overflows!! Thank you Lord for this life of mountains and valleys You are blessing us with!!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Practice Makes Perfect!
All through my elementary years in school, I can remember my teachers telling me "practice makes perfect". The more you practice at something, the better you will be and eventually you will gain perfection at it. Funny how as an adult, God is now using these words to affect my spiritual growth.
For the last couple of months, we have been studying in the book of 1 and 2 Samuel in our Sunday school class. I have been so thankful for the lessons that God has been teaching me through Hannah, Eli, Saul, David, Uzzah and several others in the scriptures. This past week's lesson really convicted me of my personal relationship with God. How thankful I am that God continues to teach those who teach others, because we all have room for growth!
Do we have and display "true" obedience and reverence for our Lord? Do we "truly" acknowledge the bible as His living word and obey it or leave it laying around our home like any other book collecting dust? Do we attend church to enter "true" worship of God or just for show and routine? Do we experience "awe and fear" when we approach God in prayer or are we so comfortable that we take Him for granted? Do we say we won't sin but when we do excuse it with "God will forgive me because of His mercy and grace?" I am sure we all could regrettably confess our lack thereof to any of these questions. I will admit that as a christian, I have justified my falling or stumbling with God's mercy and grace in the past. I am guilty of saying "I am not perfect, only God is perfect and I make mistakes. Of course we all know that God loves us and He does shower us with His mercy and grace. I am not taking away from what He offers us, because after all, that is why He sacrificed His only son...for our sins. What I am trying to share comes from Matthew 5:48 "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." I believe God is telling us to be as "perfect" as we can be with where we are spiritually. We were created in His image and as He grows us to be more like Him, we are to adhere to His teachings. If we have received instruction from His word and we know that something is wrong according to Him, then we should practice being obedient and obtain perfection of His instruction instead of excusing our disobedience with taking His forgiveness, mercy and grace for granted. We Christians need to step up in this world! We need to pray, encourage and hold each other accountable to be the example of Christ that we are called to be in order to reach a dying world. The more we practice being obedient, the more perfection in Christ we will receive. We are a "work in progress" but we should strive to be "perfection in progress" for the Lord until He returns and we are made "completely" perfect in Him.
My purpose of this blog is not to discourage anyone, but to hopefully encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ for us all to practice, practice, and then practice some more being obedient in every way so that we would be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect.
Remember: Practice makes perfect!
For the last couple of months, we have been studying in the book of 1 and 2 Samuel in our Sunday school class. I have been so thankful for the lessons that God has been teaching me through Hannah, Eli, Saul, David, Uzzah and several others in the scriptures. This past week's lesson really convicted me of my personal relationship with God. How thankful I am that God continues to teach those who teach others, because we all have room for growth!
Do we have and display "true" obedience and reverence for our Lord? Do we "truly" acknowledge the bible as His living word and obey it or leave it laying around our home like any other book collecting dust? Do we attend church to enter "true" worship of God or just for show and routine? Do we experience "awe and fear" when we approach God in prayer or are we so comfortable that we take Him for granted? Do we say we won't sin but when we do excuse it with "God will forgive me because of His mercy and grace?" I am sure we all could regrettably confess our lack thereof to any of these questions. I will admit that as a christian, I have justified my falling or stumbling with God's mercy and grace in the past. I am guilty of saying "I am not perfect, only God is perfect and I make mistakes. Of course we all know that God loves us and He does shower us with His mercy and grace. I am not taking away from what He offers us, because after all, that is why He sacrificed His only son...for our sins. What I am trying to share comes from Matthew 5:48 "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." I believe God is telling us to be as "perfect" as we can be with where we are spiritually. We were created in His image and as He grows us to be more like Him, we are to adhere to His teachings. If we have received instruction from His word and we know that something is wrong according to Him, then we should practice being obedient and obtain perfection of His instruction instead of excusing our disobedience with taking His forgiveness, mercy and grace for granted. We Christians need to step up in this world! We need to pray, encourage and hold each other accountable to be the example of Christ that we are called to be in order to reach a dying world. The more we practice being obedient, the more perfection in Christ we will receive. We are a "work in progress" but we should strive to be "perfection in progress" for the Lord until He returns and we are made "completely" perfect in Him.
My purpose of this blog is not to discourage anyone, but to hopefully encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ for us all to practice, practice, and then practice some more being obedient in every way so that we would be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect.
Remember: Practice makes perfect!
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