Making it Over the Mountain

     Our family lives here in North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Yeah, they can be beautiful...at times.  Other times, not so much.  For instance, in the fall and winter time...they look dreary as the trees are...well, ugly.  No leaves.  Just dreary!  But in the spring and summer, they look nice.  So full of color and birds and blooms.  Beautiful!
     Another reason the mountains can NOT be nice is when your driving, biking, or walking them.  Up and down and up again for a long stretch, then finally down again.  This truly makes me miss the flat roads of Florida.

Hanukkah 3:19 says: 

The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like feet of a deer;

He enables me to tread on heights.". (NIV)

     When I first read this verse about 10 years ago, all I could picture was a scene from the Walt Disney classic Bambi.  Bambi is trying to run from the forest fire and is trying to get over a rock wall, when his father, the King of the forest, comes over and starts to push him up over the wall. 

This verse came to me several months after my health issues started as...well, a reminder. 

*I could stand before my rock wall (the health issues) and just stand there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do, and be engulfed by my thoughts, feelings, and most of all...the sadness of what was happening.
OR

* I could call on my Savior to get me over this rock wall, no matter how tall, rugged, or excruciating it is and trust in Him that the other side is just like how He planned it to be.
 
     So, I did what I needed to do: pray and asked for prayers.
 
     As sufferers of chronic health issues, we need to be in prayer... a lot!  By being in prayer, our thoughts are preoccupied.  Our thoughts are not just focusing on our pain, our situation...it is focusing on God and who He is.
     In the beginning, I was in constant prayer for myself.  Asking God to help me deal with all of the pain, for it to stop.  Then as time went on, I prayed for God to help me be the wife and mom I needed to be, to be the daughter & in law I needed to be.  To be good with the grocery budget.  To be a friend to my friends. 
     As time went on, my prayers began to be focused on others and less on me.  By having my thoughts focused on other things, my mind wasn't focusing on my pain, weakness, and my sorrows.  I was able to keep myself distracted and learn to see the beauty of the world, even when in pain.  I also kept a prayer journal & would write my prayers down either every day or every so often.  By writing down my prayers, I could go back & read the prayers & see all that God had done for me, my family, and loved ones.
 
     I had a handful of close-friends that became my prayer group.  They were the ones that I could share my heart, my tears with.  I knew that if I called, emailed, or texted them, they would be down on their knees praying for me & my family.  I encourage everyone to have this small group of close-friends as it truly will help.  Plus, if you need to talk about your health, you don't have to go into detail about everything, as they already know it.
     I know that not everyone has some kind of chronic health issue and I praise God that you don't.  As a friend or loved one of someone that is dealing with it, you as well can be praying.
Pray not only for healing, but for the person to see the "little things" in life, to make it thru the day,...anything.  As time goes on, God will give you what you need to be praying about for your friend or loved one.  This is truly one of the best ways that you can show your love & support...over & over.