HOME, defined by Wikipedia:
// A home is a place of residence or refuge.[1] When it refers to a building, it is usually a place in which an individual or a family can rest and store personal property. // "Home" is also used to refer to the geographical area (whether it be a suburb, town, city or country) in which a person grew up or feels they belong, or it can refer to the native habitat of a wild animal. // Sometimes, as an alternative to the definition of "home" as a physical locale ("Home is where you hang your hat"), home may be perceived to have no physical location—instead, home may relate instead to a mental or emotional state of refuge or comfort. Popular sayings along these lines are "Home is where the heart is" or "You can never go home again".
There are cultures in which members lack permanent homes, such as with nomadic people. //
So apparently, according to this last stated definition, I could very well be considered a nomad. My family and I currently lack a permanent home.
After living on one street for 21+ years, since this past May, my address has changed five times:
from 2052 Galewood, Wyoming,
to 4110 Sandpiper Dr. Kentwood,
to Spectrum Health Hospital, Grand Rapids,
to Mary Free Bed Hospital, Grand Rapids,
to my present location, at 3000 Lake Eastbrook, Grand Rapids.
And, soon, as soon as I am considered well-enough, recovery complete, I will be moving again....And where, then, shall we go?
All summer we've been looking for a new house to buy, since we sold ours in May and are planning to move.... However, no house suitable has yet been found. [Hopefully we're close - but who knows?]
Naturally, this can cause a bit of stress and unease. I just want a home!
However, this time of being 'homeless' has also served to more properly defines what is important about a "home". Even though we've been without a place to call home this summer I am so grateful that our family of four has been together, and for the majority of the summer, have had the very same roof over our heads at night.
I am thankful for my family. They are my HOME.
And I am thankful for God, who is my shield and my refuge, my strong tower, the shelter in which I can hide; He is my HOME.
I am thankful...to have a HOME when I have no place to call "home".
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
totally dependent....
This summer, being handicapped by the accident...having had a broken wrist and broken ankle, being wheelchair and walker bound with limited mobililty....I have been very dependent on others for lots of things.
I am not one who accepts help easily. I am sure that this is not a good thing :(
I'd much rather be the one giving help instead of receiving it. It is very humbling to be in the position of needing help for nearly everything....transportation, meals, laundry, house cleaning, the simple things in life, things so often taken for granted...the whole nine yards.
So there's been a lot of time to reflect...on the goodness of others. How total strangers will be so kind and compassionate and helpful. How wonderful my dear family members and precious friends have been to think of ways to help, to encourage, and done so with a smile on their face and joy in their heart. I am blessed with amazing family and friends and will forever remember the sweetness they have brought into this otherwise drab season of life.
I have a few weeks/months to go but I am starting to be able to do more. My wrist has healed, and I am using it quite fully and fairly normally. My ankle is still healing in some ways, yet is sturdy enough to be receiving my weight so yesterday I began taking first steps, and know that this will progress, too, in time, so that I can eventually be up and walking normally again. I thank God for this hope and for his healing, and how he has made our bodies to heal from severe trauma.
I am eager to regain normal living! I am eager to gain independence again - and who would fault me? No one, I'm sure!
Yet, I hope and pray that I will carry with me, the open eyes and open mindedness that continues to see things in a new light. That I may extend to those in need, the helpfulness and hope that my friends and family have extended to me. And that I might always slow down enough to take time to enjoy the friendships along the way, and to take the time to reach out. This summer God has given me a front row seat to pain and suffering and I want to use it for good.
So challenging....
And I also pray and hope that I will keep in some sense this sense of total dependency...upon God. This accident and the events of this summer have reminded me, that though I never really was in control of my life....I wanted to be and tried to be, and to a small degree, perhaps, even might have thought that I was - at least a little :) But I know now that I am definitely not in control of my life. I cannot foresee or alter what is coming at me....I can only accept and react as God would have me to respond.
Help me God - and keep me totally dependent....on YOU.
I am not one who accepts help easily. I am sure that this is not a good thing :(
I'd much rather be the one giving help instead of receiving it. It is very humbling to be in the position of needing help for nearly everything....transportation, meals, laundry, house cleaning, the simple things in life, things so often taken for granted...the whole nine yards.
So there's been a lot of time to reflect...on the goodness of others. How total strangers will be so kind and compassionate and helpful. How wonderful my dear family members and precious friends have been to think of ways to help, to encourage, and done so with a smile on their face and joy in their heart. I am blessed with amazing family and friends and will forever remember the sweetness they have brought into this otherwise drab season of life.
I have a few weeks/months to go but I am starting to be able to do more. My wrist has healed, and I am using it quite fully and fairly normally. My ankle is still healing in some ways, yet is sturdy enough to be receiving my weight so yesterday I began taking first steps, and know that this will progress, too, in time, so that I can eventually be up and walking normally again. I thank God for this hope and for his healing, and how he has made our bodies to heal from severe trauma.
I am eager to regain normal living! I am eager to gain independence again - and who would fault me? No one, I'm sure!
Yet, I hope and pray that I will carry with me, the open eyes and open mindedness that continues to see things in a new light. That I may extend to those in need, the helpfulness and hope that my friends and family have extended to me. And that I might always slow down enough to take time to enjoy the friendships along the way, and to take the time to reach out. This summer God has given me a front row seat to pain and suffering and I want to use it for good.
So challenging....
And I also pray and hope that I will keep in some sense this sense of total dependency...upon God. This accident and the events of this summer have reminded me, that though I never really was in control of my life....I wanted to be and tried to be, and to a small degree, perhaps, even might have thought that I was - at least a little :) But I know now that I am definitely not in control of my life. I cannot foresee or alter what is coming at me....I can only accept and react as God would have me to respond.
Help me God - and keep me totally dependent....on YOU.
Challenging Words from Mama Maggie
Silence your body to listen to words.
Silence your tongue to listen to your thoughts.
Silence your thoughts to listen to your heart beating.
Silence your heart to listen to your spirit.
Silence your spirit to listen to His Spirit.
-Mama Maggie Gorban
Silence your tongue to listen to your thoughts.
Silence your thoughts to listen to your heart beating.
Silence your heart to listen to your spirit.
Silence your spirit to listen to His Spirit.
-Mama Maggie Gorban
Monday, August 15, 2011
Healing of My Speech Impediment
When I was a very young girl God healed me of a speech impediment. A few days ago a long-time friend asked me to write out the story so she could share it with someone, and I also want to share the story with all of you.
When I was around 5 or 6 years old my parents and others began to notice that I did not speak clearly. I had an impediment. Whenever I’d speak the consonants S, Sh, Tr, Ch, or J, along with those sounds appeared a “nasal snort”. It was a very unpleasant sound.
Had I been in a public school setting I am sure I would have been sent to Speech Therapy, but my parents and I were living an unusual life at the time. Mom and Dad were song evangelists who would travel to churches and camp meetings all over the United States. We were in a different city every week, lived in a travel trailer, and I was homeschooled by my mother.
It became apparent that I needed help. I was becoming very self-conscious and embarrassed due to this, and was becoming quite withdrawn in public.
My parents considered that perhaps they should settle down from their living on the road, to find a permanent home so that I could get the help I needed. Yet, they knew that they had a call from God to do what they do, and didn’t take that call lightly. Also they had received a call for some meetings in Florida during the winter of 1971, and they had never been/always wanted to go to Florida, and decided to remain in this work until after that, then make the decision as to what to do.
Meanwhile, my parents took me to Detroit Michigan to Ford Hospital to see a speech therapist there to try to get some help. The therapist assigned me speech exercises and asked for me to return a few months later.
All during this time my parents were requesting prayer from everyone they could, all over the country. They had a lot of friends, and every week in their meetings would meet more and more people who joined us all in prayer for my healing and for direction for my mom and dad to know what to do.
The meetings in Florida in the winter of 1971 were behind us, and in March we were in the car, travelling north to return to Michigan. We soon would have the follow-up appointment with the speech therapist, so my mom suggested, as we were going down the road, that I should use the time to practice my speech exercises. I had been playing with my doll in the back seat of the car, so just then, I looked at my doll, and to the doll (who apparently in my make believe world, was crying?..), I said “Sh”. And I said it NORMALLY! (no snort!...which I had NEVER done!). My mom heard this and whipped her head around and said “What did you say?”, and I replied, “Sh!” – again, clearly!
So that day was a joy-filled day for sure! I was able to say not only the “sh” sound, but also “tr” and “ch”. So I’d read the road signs and truck logos and anything I could with these sounds in it – and we’d laugh and praise God and rejoice!
The “J” sound didn’t come until a few weeks later. During our family devotions, the Bible reading was from the book in the Bible: 1st John. My mom asked me to read the Bible that day, and she told me the passage was in 1st John….and I repeated the reference after her, saying “1st John…” – and this time I said J correctly! Once again this turned into a time of hilarious rejoicing! I was able to speak all the sounds correctly, which had before been accompanied by an obnoxious nasal snort. God healed me completely!
Praise Him!
When I was around 5 or 6 years old my parents and others began to notice that I did not speak clearly. I had an impediment. Whenever I’d speak the consonants S, Sh, Tr, Ch, or J, along with those sounds appeared a “nasal snort”. It was a very unpleasant sound.
Had I been in a public school setting I am sure I would have been sent to Speech Therapy, but my parents and I were living an unusual life at the time. Mom and Dad were song evangelists who would travel to churches and camp meetings all over the United States. We were in a different city every week, lived in a travel trailer, and I was homeschooled by my mother.
It became apparent that I needed help. I was becoming very self-conscious and embarrassed due to this, and was becoming quite withdrawn in public.
My parents considered that perhaps they should settle down from their living on the road, to find a permanent home so that I could get the help I needed. Yet, they knew that they had a call from God to do what they do, and didn’t take that call lightly. Also they had received a call for some meetings in Florida during the winter of 1971, and they had never been/always wanted to go to Florida, and decided to remain in this work until after that, then make the decision as to what to do.
Meanwhile, my parents took me to Detroit Michigan to Ford Hospital to see a speech therapist there to try to get some help. The therapist assigned me speech exercises and asked for me to return a few months later.
All during this time my parents were requesting prayer from everyone they could, all over the country. They had a lot of friends, and every week in their meetings would meet more and more people who joined us all in prayer for my healing and for direction for my mom and dad to know what to do.
The meetings in Florida in the winter of 1971 were behind us, and in March we were in the car, travelling north to return to Michigan. We soon would have the follow-up appointment with the speech therapist, so my mom suggested, as we were going down the road, that I should use the time to practice my speech exercises. I had been playing with my doll in the back seat of the car, so just then, I looked at my doll, and to the doll (who apparently in my make believe world, was crying?..), I said “Sh”. And I said it NORMALLY! (no snort!...which I had NEVER done!). My mom heard this and whipped her head around and said “What did you say?”, and I replied, “Sh!” – again, clearly!
So that day was a joy-filled day for sure! I was able to say not only the “sh” sound, but also “tr” and “ch”. So I’d read the road signs and truck logos and anything I could with these sounds in it – and we’d laugh and praise God and rejoice!
The “J” sound didn’t come until a few weeks later. During our family devotions, the Bible reading was from the book in the Bible: 1st John. My mom asked me to read the Bible that day, and she told me the passage was in 1st John….and I repeated the reference after her, saying “1st John…” – and this time I said J correctly! Once again this turned into a time of hilarious rejoicing! I was able to speak all the sounds correctly, which had before been accompanied by an obnoxious nasal snort. God healed me completely!
Praise Him!
Health is a Blessing!
If you are enjoying the gift of good health today, do not take it for granted. Thank GodI
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Accident on 52nd Street
On Wednesday, May 25th at approximately 4:45 pm, as I was driving my van on the way to my apartment, a driver crossed the center line and hit me head-on. We were in a residential area of Kentwood Michigan, each going approximately 50 mph.
Sadly the driver who hit me died at the scene from a broken neck. I thank God for sparing my life in this terrible accident.
I sustained two areas of injury - a broken right wrist and a broken (crushed) right ankle.
Just after midnight on May 26th I had surgeries on both areas and have been on a non-weight bearing status since then. We are approaching twelve weeks, this coming week, since the accident.
I am still non-weight-bearing on my ankle and am bound to the wheelchair and hopping with a walker for getting places. However, my wrist is fully healed and I have been using it for the past three weeks. I just need to continue to gain strength and mobility, but I am so encouraged with its progress.
There are so many specifics related to this accident and the recovery that I will not go into here....however, I have been writing updates on another site since the accident, and you may use this address to go there to learn more if you'd like.
www.carepages.com
The name of my page is ThyFaithfulness
Sadly the driver who hit me died at the scene from a broken neck. I thank God for sparing my life in this terrible accident.
I sustained two areas of injury - a broken right wrist and a broken (crushed) right ankle.
Just after midnight on May 26th I had surgeries on both areas and have been on a non-weight bearing status since then. We are approaching twelve weeks, this coming week, since the accident.
I am still non-weight-bearing on my ankle and am bound to the wheelchair and hopping with a walker for getting places. However, my wrist is fully healed and I have been using it for the past three weeks. I just need to continue to gain strength and mobility, but I am so encouraged with its progress.
There are so many specifics related to this accident and the recovery that I will not go into here....however, I have been writing updates on another site since the accident, and you may use this address to go there to learn more if you'd like.
www.carepages.com
The name of my page is ThyFaithfulness
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