To Pass the Test!!

I didn't want to get up today. It was one of those days!

First of all, I knew that I had to attend a funeral today and I knew it was going to be tough. It was time to say goodbye to a gentleman that had touched the lives of so many people. He was the ultimate giver and servant. Although in his 80's he would continue to visit the sick and shut in until recently when he could no longer drive and get around on his own. He was a bright light in the middle of a sometimes darkened world. He was a father to many that he had not fathered and a friend to too many to count. Just an awesome individual.


Secondly, my husband hasn't been feeling well. He was bitten by a spider last week and it seems to have had a snowball effect. A trip to the Immediate Care facility revealed a problem with high blood pressure and now the discovery of a thyroid condition. I consider the bite as a blessing. The forced visit to the doctor, enabled him to find a silent killer. He now knows what and how to tackle his conditions head on so that they can be defeated. Oh, they will be defeated. It is only a matter of time.



These two things were weighing heavily on my mind this morning. I got up and then got back in the bed. I lay there for a few more moments knowing that I HAD to get up but I still didn't WANT to. "OK!" I said. "I must PUSH through this. I must face these matters head on. Lying here is not going to make anything go away." I told myself. "Waaaa!!" I got up.



First things first! I needed to prepare myself for the Home going Service of this gentleman! After all it was going to be a celebration. Although he will be missed, it is still a joyous occasion, for he has done what we ALL have to do. He lived his life! He fought the good fight! I gathered myself and said a prayer for the family. I said a prayer for my family and my church family!! I immediately felt better! Whew!! That was close. I was getting ready to slide down the slippery slope.

Next, my hubby!! He is struggling right now. He is going through. As his spouse, it is my duty to lift him up. I say duty, not as in obligation, but as in responsibility. The vows state, "in sickness and in health." The doctors and medication can handle the symptoms, but I must help him spiritually and emotionally. Help means to ease or relieve. It is essential to his well being that I relieve his stress, ease his mind, pray over him, speak positively toward him and let him know that I am beside him. I must remind him that he IS healed and he WILL push through this. I cannot allow him to get down on himself and that he is more than a conqueror.


A few days ago, I began looking in the my "Promise Bible" for scriptures http://tinyurl.com/nv7xve that apply to his situation and texting them to him at night so he will have them on his phone to read every morning and through out the day. That is just the beginning. I now know that I am going to have to pray harder and stronger. Push back from the table and be still and listen for what He would have for me to do for this situation. I heard someone say this morning that God only gives tests to those that HE knows will pass them. Thus I see this as yet another test to pass!

The service was incredible!! The church was full! A testament to the full life of the man that we were celebrating. We were even blessed with a video of him saying a poem that he would always recite called, "Myself" The sermon was phenomenal. It was entitled "God has your back" My pastor gave some -isms that the deceased used to say like "Merry Christmas" at Thanksgiving or Help me Holy Ghost! His granddaughter sang a song called God Is and our Congressman sent a DVD to send condolences to the family. It was a bittersweet service, but one that he would have pleased with!



I made it through the day. Here I sit at 10:00 pm blogging with a better outlook. An entirely different view of the world a mere 13 hours later. Praying that I will be an encouragement to someone else. Reminding us all that we are subject to our emotions but we can pray past them. Hoping that someone reading it will realize that although you may not feel like getting up, do it anyway. Pass the test!



And as Always....Push Forward!

Myself
by Edgar A. Guest
I have to live with myself and so

I want to be fit for myself to know,

I want to be able as days go by,

To look at myself straight in the eye.

I don't want to stand with the setting sun

And hate myself for the things I've done.

I don't want to hide on a closet shelf

A lot of secrets about myself,

And fool myself as I come and go

Into thinking that nobody else will know

What kind of man I really am;

I don't want to dress myself in sham.

I want to go with my head erect,

I want to deserve all men's respect

And in this struggle for fame and pelf
I want to be able to like myself.

I don't want to look at myself and know

That I am a bluster and empty show.
I cannot hide myself from me;

I can see what others can never see

I know what others can never know,

I cannot fool myself, and so

Whatever happens, I want to be

Self-respecting and conscience free.