Faith & Family

The word “biopsy” triggered fear as I listened to the nurse on the phone explain why I needed to make an appointment for the next day. My mind dove into a dark place of what-ifs, conjuring up all the worst possible outcomes. What if the growth on top of my head was cancerous? Who would care for my family if I didn’t survive? Uncomfortable pressure from the lump intensified as I imagined how my family would cope. But worrying doesn’t work.

Fear of the unknown made for a restless night. The next day,  I arrived at the doctor’s office with puffy eyes and a knotted-up stomach. After examining the bump, the dermatologist determined a biopsy wasn’t needed. We scheduled an appointment to remove it.

Instead of leaving the office relieved, my mind went into another tailspin. What if the professionals handling my case discovered something unexpected during the operation? Or the incision got infected during recovery? Waiting a full two weeks for surgery felt agonizing, but it eventually came and went. The tumor biopsy results came back negative. It didn’t take long to realize all the time and energy I spent worrying was unnecessarily exhausting for me and my loved ones.

Leaning on worry when facing problems doesn’t work, but leaning on God does. Prayer and petition with thanksgiving demonstrates our faith in God’s goodness and provision despite what we’re experiencing. Communicating honestly with Him about what we need draws spiritual resources into our physical reality.

Every trial is an invitation from God to trust in His ability to handle the adverse events that come our way and help us cope. When we face unpredictable circumstances, we may use worry to keep our emotional guard up, brace for the worst-case scenario, or give us a sense of control in an alarming situation. But no amount of worrying can prevent what happens to us in the future. Worry steals our joy, kills our faith, and destroys our strength. Unbridled worry can wreak havoc on our relationships, impair our performance, and create medical problems from the stress.

Get honest with God about what you’re worried about. Invite Him into your problem. Tell Him your worries, and ask for His help. Release your fear, despair, and pain into His capable hands. Seize the peace, strength, and hope He provides daily to overcome the difficulty.  

As we prepared for a family member's 100th birthday celebration, everything seemed to come together just as we intended.

The week before the event, the weather forecast included rain. Honestly, I was disappointed and started to pray that the forecast would change. We wanted a bright, sunny day. The rain would cause us to modify our plans and likely damper what we intended to be a joyful day.

On the morning of the celebration, the forecasted percentage of rain had increased to 95%, more than the 40% originally forecasted. As I listened to the hard rain fall outside on the celebration day, similar tears fell from my eyes. My grandfather had passed away unexpectedly 364 days before. He was the reason we were planning the 100th birthday celebration. It was one of the last things he spoke about during his last day on earth.

As I prayed again for God to stop the rain on this beautiful occasion, God reminded me that rain is beneficial, although at times inconvenient. Droughts are naturally drier-than-average conditions. Our family had been in an emotional drought as we worked through our grief. But my perspective shifted, and God reminded me that only rain can cure the drought.

I began to praise God for the rain and viewed it as His way of replenishing our souls and addressing the drought we had experienced. Rain increases growth, and I believe the rain on that day was symbolic. God would grow us and restore every area of lack.

Sometimes, we have to shift our perspective to realize that God is in control and gives us what we need when we need it, not always when we want it.

Do you need to shift your pespective? Ask God to help you.

One of the first things I taught my son to say was “Thank you.” I can still remember the cute way he said it as a toddler. He looked at us with an enormous smile and bright eyes and exclaimed, “Tank you!”

My son is a teenager now, but I remind him daily to say thank you. I have always thought showing appreciation to people, especially God, was necessary. When we say thank you, we acknowledge we have received a blessing. Thank you is an expression of the gratitude we feel for that blessing. It’s an essential practice in our lives.

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever. The Bible mentions this Scripture six times and the phrase “give thanks” fifty-two times. It must be important if give thanks is noted that much.

Everyone appreciates a thank you. It’s an acknowledgment of effort and sacrifice. When we say thank you to God, it shows we recognize how blessed and thankful we are.

We have many reasons to give thanks to God. He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, so that we could experience salvation. One of the benefits of that salvation is the love and care God has for each of us that endures forever. Just these two facts are reasons to give thanks, not to mention how God blesses us daily by answering our prayers. Those are a few of the million reasons to be thankful.

Today, take a few moments to thank God for all He has done. Remember to show Him how thankful you are through your everyday actions. May we never stop thanking and praising Him for the many blessings He bestows on us.  

The shadows cast by the trees in our front yard stretched out toward the east. In the dying light of the setting sun, they grew longer by the minute. I stood on our front porch and anxiously called for Fritz, our eight-year-old orange tabby cat. He was very late returning to the house. It was just a few days before Thanksgiving, and the season's first hard freeze was forecast for this very night.

Fritz has roamed the five acres of our Middle Tennessee ridge since he was a kitten. Every morning he would request that the front door be opened so his highness might exit. Assuming the weather was to his liking, out the door he would go to make his rounds and explore his territory. But he had always returned in time for his midafternoon dinner. Until today.

I called his name again and waited a few minutes. No Fritz. I began to get a distinct feeling of unease. I slipped my feet into my hiking boots, grabbed my trusty hickory walking stick, clipped my knife to my belt, jammed a flashlight in my pocket, and set off out the door.

Calling his name periodically, my wife Charlotte and I set off on a grand circle of the property. We stopped occasionally to check some of his known hunting stops. Nothing. By now, the sun had slipped below the horizon, and the twilight deepened by the minute.

As we reached three-quarters of the way around the property, I called Fritz's name again. At the very edge of my hearing, I heard ... something. It might have been a cat or it might have been a bird. Moving about a hundred feet, I called again. And again. A reply came. This time, I was sure it was a cat. After moving and calling again, I was sure it was Fritz.

Slowly, we homed in on his cry. Suddenly, a few feet away in the dark undergrowth of the woods, something four-legged bounded off into the night. Fritz cried out again, this time very close. It was Charlotte who spotted him, nearly seventy-five feet in the air, clinging to the very top of a tree. His hackles were in full extension from head to tail. Whatever had run him up the tree had probably just run off as we approached.

Fritz turned himself around and started backing down the tree. When he got within range, he jumped into my arms with a look that said, What took you so long? Cats. Gotta love them.

Jesus will never stop looking for those of His flock who are lost. The Word provides numerous examples of the Lord reaching out to save those who beseech Him. It doesn't matter if you're clinging to the top of a tree with your hindquarters hanging out in the breeze or curled up on the floor of a cold, concrete jail cell. If you call to Jesus, He will answer. 

Call to Him today.

My sister and I have not given each other Christmas presents since 1971. Do we not celebrate Christmas together? Are we mad at one another? Is this an ongoing family feud? Far from it. We meet with extended family as we have for years. Our time together includes reading the Christmas story from Luke 2, praying, having a potluck feast, listening to music, and receiving gifts under the tree. We purchase presents for other family members, with a focus on children, but no exchange for the two of us.

We decided to forego gift-wrapped items that soon break or wear out for something with lasting value. During the summer of 1971, we married within three months of one another and faced the usual financial challenges of newlyweds. However, we both believed in the importance of mission work. Inspired by the story of a single female missionary who gave her life for the people she served, we wanted to give as much as possible to our church’s annual international mission offering. Like those who initiated the offering, we longed for people worldwide to hear the message of God’s love. Years later, I opened a small package from one of my sister’s sons. The card inside said his Christmas gift was a donation to international mission work. I cried.

As we read in Old Testament festival instructions, Jesus’ teachings, and others in the New Testament, everyone can give something. Throughout the Bible, we also read that God values each gift, whether large or small.

Remember to thank God this Christmas for the gift of love and forgiveness through Jesus. Also, ask God to help you discover new ways to consistently and sacrificially share that gift with our hurting world.