Author: Polly

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A Patient Patient

 

Words to Live By

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Romans 12:12 NIV

I usually write a post sharing my verse and word of the year in January. Well, that artificial deadline came and went, didn’t it? I’ve been a bit distracted these last few months. In the midst of it, the verse above picked me!

Be Patient in Times of Trouble

If you’re anything like me, you could use an extra helping of patience. That has never been truer for me than over these past few months when the road to recovery from cervical spine surgery took me on quite a detour.

My word for 2024, patience, is included in the Fruit of the Spirit. That is a biblical term that sums up nine attributes of a person or community living in accord with the Holy Spirit.

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

Galatians 5:22-23 NLT

Practice Required

I want to bear that kind of fruit. How about you? By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can! As one of my pastors once said, we won’t become patient without being given the opportunity to practice it. Practice makes perfect, right? I’ve gotten plenty of chances to be a patient patient over these last several months. I would like to say that I’ve aced the test, but, since sitting still is not one of my strengths, I imagine a solid ‘C’ is a more accurate reflection of my current level of patience. No, He’s not done with me yet!

An Unplanned Detour

The recovery from my initial surgery called for me to be a patient patient. Not knowing what to expect, I just felt like it was going painfully slow, pun intended. I was a good patient, and, as is often the case, followed all the rules. It wasn’t until the lower part of my incision split open that I realized I had taken a detour. That detour included two additional hospitalizations and a second surgery 1000 miles away from home. The prize from Round 2 was 31 staples in my neck, easily surpassing the total from Round 1. The bonus prize was yet another surgeon’s haircut! I have had no shortage of opportunities to practice patience!

Be Joyful in Hope

To this point, I have focused on the middle segment of Romans 12:12–be patient in affliction, but the bookends deserve mention as well. The beginning of the verse tells us to be joyful in hope. What does that look like in the midst of life’s difficulties? We must remember that Jesus is our Hope. Our joy is found in Him, not our circumstances. Knowing that He is with us and working on our behalf in the middle of a trial is reason to be joyful. To keep from drowning in our circumstances, it is important to keep our eyes focused on Him. That’s not always easy. If it were, I would have written this post a month or two ago rather than waiting until I saw light at the end of the tunnel!

Be Faithful in Prayer

Finally, Romans 12:12 calls us to be faithful in prayer. Seek, ask, knock—keep at it and don’t give up. While it’s true that God already knows what we need, He still wants us to come to Him with our concerns. It’s all about the relationship and that requires participation from both parties.

Pastor Chris often reminds us that everyone is dealing with something. Isn’t that the truth?! Whatever that something is for you right now, try living out Romans 12:12 and see how God responds.

    • Be joyful in hope
    • Be patient in times of trouble
    • Pray, pray and pray some more

In my case, I have found myself back on the road to recovery. After being sidelined for 3 months, I have had a taste of normalcy in my life recently. It has been oh so sweet to be able to do some things that simply haven’t been possible since the first surgery! If you know me very well, you know that I like my sweets! Strawberry shortcake anyone?

Strawberry Shortcake
It’s strawberry season in Florida!

 

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Merry Christmas

This gift perfectly fits the size of every heart.
Jesus–the Ultimate Gift

Though not up for writing much at this point, it wouldn’t seem right to let Christmas pass without a word. With every writing, it is my desire to remind myself and each one who reads it that Jesus truly is the Ultimate Gift. He perfectly fits the size of every heart. You can be assured that He is your source of peace, hope, joy and love.

Update

I am in the early stages of recovery from spinal surgery (laminoplasty). I will admit that I was at peace AND scared half to death all at the same time leading up to the surgery. As promised, He was right there with me every step of the way. And still is as I make my way back. I’m discovering the road to recovery to be a long and winding one but am so very grateful to be on it.

A Different Christmas

Getting ready for Christmas by December 13 was no easy task, but, in His strength, I reached my goal. It seems so strange spending the days leading up to Christmas resting rather than going 100 mph in fifteen different directions. I’ve actually watched some Christmas movies this year rather than just talked about it.

Timing

In some ways mid-December is the absolute worst time to schedule a surgery, but in other ways it was absolutely the perfect time. During this Advent season, I’ve been reminded nearly every day through various readings that Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace. I’ve not only read about it, but I’ve also experienced it firsthand, before, during, and after surgery. I’ve been in His hands all along and there’s no better place to be.

Jesus–the Ultimate Gift

I pray that you too would experience all the benefits that come with receiving the Ultimate Gift. Jesus came so that we would have LIFE and have it in abundance (John 10:10b). Enjoy that life and thank God for this indescribable gift (2 Corinthians 9:15).

Merry Christmas!

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The Memory of an Elephant

Long-term memory

The Memory of an Elephant?

Have you ever heard the expression–the memory of an elephant? I have. In fact, when I was growing up, my family would often say that I have the memory of an elephant. I never really gave it much thought, but did know that I had a good memory, especially for important dates like birthdays. To this day, my mom will still call me if she needs to know someone’s birthday, anniversary, etc. Elephants apparently excel in long-term memory, perhaps because of the size of their brain. Thus, the saying—the memory of an elephant.

Remembering

In my writing, I often return to the topic of remembering and just how important it is. When it comes to faith, it can make or break you. One story in particular from the book of Exodus always makes me shake my head. That is, until I realize that I’m no different.

A Miracle Forgotten

To summarize, the Israelites, who were enslaved in Egypt, experienced the miracle of miracles when God delivered them from the hands of the Egyptians by parting the Red Sea. Yes, He stopped the flow of water long enough for them to cross to the other side. The Egyptian chariots, in hot pursuit, followed them into the sea and were drowned. A mere forty-five days after witnessing and being part of such a miracle, the Israelites were grumbling. They were hungry and miserable and longed to go back to Egypt where they were slaves. In their misery, their memories were slightly distorted.

“If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭16‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Faith is Fed (or Starved) by Our Memory

The Israelite memories of their previous life don’t exactly indicate a life of slavery, do they? Perhaps they embellished. They were only a month-and-a-half removed from one of the greatest miracles of all time and this was what they remembered. Apparently, the Israelites did NOT have the memory of an elephant!

I tend to be hard on the Israelites. How could they forget what God had just done for them? And then I realize that I am no less guilty.

The Circumstances

Earlier this year, I wrote about a few miracles of my own leading up to my daughter’s wedding. That was roughly seven months ago. I hit a speed bump with my own health four months later and have been on a mission ever since to get to the bottom of that. If you read my last post, you know that in my quest for answers, another, more important, issue was discovered. Just a few days ago I gave consent to a neurosurgeon to perform laminoplasty to relieve the pressure on my spinal cord caused by severe stenosis.

Choosing Where to Focus

God has a perfect track record when it comes to faithfulness. I know that and hopefully you do too. Yet, when faced with a crisis, it’s easy to dwell on our current circumstances and allow doubt and fear to creep into our hearts and minds. Rather than focusing on God’s faithfulness in the past, the Israelites were consumed by their current discomfort. I’m not so different. Are you?

His Faithfulness

If you, like me, are staring down some challenges at the moment, let’s vow to tap into our inner elephant and remember His faithfulness in the past. May that give us the courage to step into our future full of faith that He will see us through this challenge as well.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭23‬ ‭NIV

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(I am listening to old choir music as I put the finishing touches on this post. Though simple, one of my all-time favorites that I sang with the church choir is “He Will See You Through.” Perhaps that is because there always seems to be some challenge that I need Him to see me through! Guess what song just played? Yep! That was NOT a coincidence–God is good.)
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More Important

As always, I wait on God to supply the material for my blog posts. That, and the time to write. Sometimes I just have to reprioritize all that is vying for my attention and move that which is more important to the top of the list. Thus, this new post.

Helping a Friend in Need

I have been reading and discussing a great book, “Faith, Doubt, and God’s Mysterious Timing,” with a friend over the last several months. It is written by Laurie Polich Short. Within each chapter, she generally uses three stories from the Bible to drive her point home. In a chapter titled, “When in Doubt, Look at Jesus,” Laurie used the story of four friends going to great lengths to help their paralytic friend. I think great lengths might be an understatement. They dug through the roof where Jesus was teaching and lowered their paralyzed friend on a mat to get him to Jesus. That’s how badly they wanted healing for their friend. Imagine their surprise when Jesus’ response was “Son, your sins are forgiven.” I have a feeling they looked at one another with a puzzled look. “Huh?”

A Greater Need

Jesus, of course, was using this as another teaching moment. You see, there were teachers of the law in attendance, and He knew that they were silently accusing Him of blasphemy. Jesus wanted them to know that He, the Son of Man, had the authority to forgive sins on earth. Jesus also knew that it was more important that the man’s sins be forgiven than his ability to walk be restored. So, even though the latter was the intention of his friends, Jesus addressed what was more important first—the forgiveness of sins.

Physical Healing

Once Jesus made his point, he addressed the paralytic again:

“I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Mark 2:11-12 NIV

Wait–what?

I got a surprise, much like the paralytic’s friends, recently. I, too, went looking for one thing and found another. A headache that won’t quit has had my attention for nearly 3 months now. In my quest to solve that problem, another one has been uncovered that is apparently more important. It isn’t life-threatening, but it IS life-altering. This new discovery has rocked my world, but, at the end of the day, I need to look at it as a blessing. Jesus ALWAYS knows what is more important. So, I pay attention, and rearrange my ducks yet again.

In case you are in need of a reminder too:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV

The Blessing of Community

On a side note, I am touched by the effort put forth by the paralytic’s friends to help him. I have an equally dedicated collection of friends and family who have gone to great lengths to help me as well. That brings me great comfort in the midst of such uncertainty. They are such a blessing to me. I pray that you are also blessed with a wonderful support network on which you can lean in good times and in bad. After all, we were made for community.