Keeping My Faith in Tact!

Why God? It is what is circling through my mind right now. The spiritual battle today has been relentless but it shouldn't surprise me at all. In fact, far too many times I go about my day forgetting it's a battlefield and not a playground. Yet I find myself caught off guard when it seems like you're at the beach dodging one wave only to get pummeled by another one. 

So as a believer in Christ it is logical to question what's up? Is there any guidance to be gleaned? My first thought is prayer first, and then wait and listen to see what God has to say. 

I got a phone call today in the midst of a hard day already. Trying to deal with so many family issues that are all raging out of control today and all happening one after the other. Today, I am trying to remain in control of the one thing I can and that's my faith. 

It's my go to when things like today happen. My dad, almost 81 years old was scheduled for hernia surgery today and we prayed together last night that no matter what happened it would be a win-win situation as a believer. He would either have a successful surgery or he would go immediately into heaven and be 100% restored again and living a wonderful life til we get together again. 

Only neither of those were the outcome. During the midst of his surgery, his heart began to act up and both the doctor and his anesthesiologist decided to stop before risking his life. Not even sure how far or even if they started his surgery. All I know is he is in recovery and they are waiting for him to wake up. Was God getting ready to take him home? Not sure, but at least He decided my dad's time here on earth wasn't done yet. He still has a plan and a purpose for this right now. He was needed here. 

I am praying that God will give him some sort of peace in the midst of this. He had been looking forward to hanging out with his military honor guard friends again that he volunteers with and with the onset of this hernia, he hasn't been able to participate due to the pain. Will God heal him in spite of a failed surgery? 

These are the questions rolling through my mind as I sit here once again taking up blogging to give myself some sort of outlet for all the things. I wait to hear from him and see what he has to say when he wakes up. I pray that he won't lose his faith. He may question it all after this, but I pray God will be there with him and give him a sense of purpose again. I am thankful he is still here. 

Is there another answer for what has happened to his heart during his surgery? We have to wait for more answers when he meets with his doctor. What I am grateful for at this time, is I can feel God's presence with me. I feel a strength that isn't my own. I feel Him holding me. 

So now I wait for more answers, both from God and from my Dad. But the one thing I won't give up on is my faith. I may not know the Why, but I do know God and I am trying to stay in His presence. That is here I can find peace and strength. 

How do you handle those tough days? 

A Trip of a Lifetime

 

I had to share a conversation I had with my 80-year old father this morning by phone and he asked me to share this with you. 

"I had a dream tonight that really impacted me so much and I couldn't wait to tell my wife. Part of me was so excited to share the experience that I didn't want to miss out on any of the details as it happened. In fact it stayed with me so much and most of the dreams I have, I barely remember them when I wake up. So this one felt like I had to share it before I forgot. 

In my dream, I shared that my wife had gone on a small trip so she wasn't with me, and I was all alone. I had a ticket in my pocket for a trip I had been planning on going on for quite some time to visit Lake Tahoe. Today was that day. I packed what I needed for the trip and hurried to the train station. Upon arriving, I went to the ticket booth to find out what I needed to do to ensure I didn't miss out on the trip before the train left. I was informed I would need to present the ticket to the conductor on the train to make sure I was on the right train. As I was walking I saw the most gorgeous train, gold in color and it seemed as if light was emanating from inside. Almost surreal. The color was unlike anything I had seen before and that just made me all the more anxious to board. 

I could see a small line of people waiting to board, so I joined them anxiously awaiting my turn. I saw two of my friends that I volunteer with and told them to save me a spot while I was waiting for my ticket to be validated. Two men in front of me, started arguing with the conductor about the price of the ticket and how so much planning had gone into the trip. Yet one thing was required prior to boarding, and it was to share this trip with others before you got to go. These men felt it was too foolish to share their trip as they wanted to keep this special trip a secret and so it wouldn't be over crowded. 

The conductor pointed to another train headed for Las Vegas that didn't have the same requirements and in fact was actually much cheaper. Like this trip, it was all expenses paid, but they would get quite a bit of their money back, so they both wholeheartily agreed to change their plans. I watched as they hurried to board the other train, talking back and forth about how much money they were saving so they could use that to play some of the casino games and maybe win big. 

Finally it was my turn as I handed the ticket to the conductor and shared that I had told several people about my trip encouraging others to join me. I even motioned to the friends that we waiting for me on the train who had saved me a seat! The conductor smiled and punched my ticket and I sat with my friends as we talked about what awaited us in Tahoe. The trees, the beauty of the crystal clear blue lake, and just getting away from life to take an anticipated vacation. 

I heard the whistle of the train announcing that we were leaving and I loved that we had seats in the 360 viewing compartment so we could see everything as we moved along. The brilliant colors and shades of green from the many types of trees. The way the sunlight played among the branches. The colors were simply beyond what I could express as we spoke to one another about what we were seeing, as if for the very first time. The view captivated us for some long, that we arrived before we knew it. 

The train employees told us our bags would be waiting for us in the rooms, and there was no need to burden ourselves with carrying them. All we needed to do was check in with the front desk to receive our room keys. To our surprise and delight, we were upgraded to suites, with surpassing views and balconies for us to sit back and enjoy the view of the lake! We realized we were all quite hungry and went to the restaurant at the hotel and as promised, there was no charge as we had paid for it all in advance when we booked our trips. 

The menu was filled with all kinds of wonderful meals, from the thickest cuts of the best steaks, to fresh seafood and lobster. The desert bar was filled with anything you could possibly imagine. As we were enjoying our meal, the television programmed was interrupted by a special report coming out of Las Vegas. 

The city was enduring a record heat wave that they had never experienced in the history of the city. In fact most of the streets were empty due to the high heat so most guests had stayed in the coolness of the hotels instead. The number of hotels placed such a high load on the electrical grid, that the power plant had exploded. Yet that was not the worst news as firefighters rushed to the scene to put out the fires. 

Inside the hotels, with no power, and high temperatures outside, the doors had sealed the guests inside. With no air flow, things began to get warm. People started to panic and tried to get out of the hotel. People were passing out from the heat and many died from being trampled or pushed by other guests trying to flee the hotels. Even firefighters and rescue personnel were struggling to get people out. 

And then I woke up. "

I'm not even sure what all of this meant, but I felt I needed to share it with my family. 

What do you think my dream meant? 

I'd love to hear your thoughts