THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

July 21, 2021

LIFE IN THE FOLD:

Jeremiah 32:27 says, "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?"

Abraham had been promised a son, but years had gone by and nothing had happened. Thinking God needed help, Abraham and Sarah tried to force this promise to happen; but that wasn't God's plan. Finally, the appointed time arrived and the Lord showed up to let Abraham know, when he was 100 years old and Sarah was 90. When Sarah overheard that she was going to become pregnant in her old age, she laughed. She thought that her child-bearing years were long gone, plus she had been barren all of her married life; until God showed up!

The Lord spoke to Abraham and said, "Why did Sarah laugh? Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son." And that is exactly what happened. In her old age, Sarah became pregnant and bore a son, who they named Isaac.

It's easy to say that we believe in miracles and have faith for the impossible, when our faith isn't being tested. But when something happens that really puts our faith to the test and we absolutely have to have a miracle, do we truly believe that nothing is too hard for God to do? When we pray, do we trust God to answer and trust His answer to be the right one?

My family has recently been witness to a miracle!

My nephew, Timothy, and his wife, Denise, experienced a miracle that only God could do. Denise was pregnant and due in August. In mid-June Denise became sick and tested positive for both flu and COVID.

On Wednesday, June 30^th, Timothy took her to the hospital. She was dehydrated and her oxygen level was low. She was transferred from that hospital to a critical care unit in another hospital in northwest Arkansas. On that Saturday she was airlifted to a hospital in Springfield, MO. They were concerned about her oxygen levels, as well as for the baby. They were keeping a close eye on her, telling Timothy that they would likely have to take the baby by c-section.

On Sunday morning, July 4^th, Timothy had gone home to check on their other two girls when he got a call that due to Denise's oxygen levels they were going to have to do an emergency caesarean, but would try to wait until he got there. They said that they would go slow to try to protect both Denise and the baby.

The baby was 6 weeks early, but weighed in at 5 pounds 7 ounces and was 18 inches long. They immediately put her in NICU to help her continue to develop, but she was doing exceptionally well. She was eating, healthy and thriving!

On the other hand, Denise had to be put on a ventilator and was fighting for her life. Timothy was unable to see the baby, due to being exposed to COVID when he was with his wife, couldn't be with his wife who was in CCU, and couldn't be with his other two daughters (ages 15 and 10) who were at home, with his sister staying with them.

But here is what God can do in a few short days!

Timothy spent hours walking around the hospital, both inside and out, praying. While doing so, God gave him the picture of Jericho and the walls falling down, after they were marched around 7 times on the 7^th day.

On Wednesday, July 7^th, Timothy asked for family and friends to all pray at 7:00 PM for his wife. This also happened to be the 7^th day that Denise was in the hospital; Timothy having taken her around 7:00 PM the previous Wednesday to be admitted. Joshua 6:16 tells us that on the 7^th day after 7 trips around the city, the walls of Jericho fell. Denise's room was 6A, number 16, which correlates with that scripture in Joshua. So many, many people joined Timothy in prayer, as he had requested, and God answered!

Denise was taken off the ventilator that day, July 7^th, which was unexpected based on previous updates Timothy had received. He was told not to be disappointed if they had to put her back on the ventilator, but that never happened. Right before 7:00 PM that evening, he received a FaceTime call from the nurse and Denise, getting to see her face via the phone for the first time in several days.

From there, things happened very quickly!

The next day, Denise moved from the high flow nasal cannula to just the standard nose cannula, while maintaining all of her needed oxygen levels. She got to FaceTime her newborn baby in NICU, and see and talk to her, tell her that mommy loves her. Timothy got a call from the doctor saying that Denise was doing well enough that they were going to let her sit up in the recliner for a while; and Denise had even asked to go to the restroom. In fact, she was doing so well that they moved her out of ICU to the normal COVID floor and into a room. Her oxygen levels were great, her blood work was good with minor elevations in her white blood cells (antibiotics were used to address that), and she was tired which was to be expected. After moved to a room, Denise called Timothy from her cell phone. She was wanting to go home!

What a huge change from Sunday, not being sure if she was even going to live, to Thursday!

That weekend they moved her to another room, which was one more step closer to getting to going home. Timothy was able to drop off some Starbucks and eggs for her to eat. She cleared one hurdle after another, and passed every test the doctors gave her. She was taken off all oxygen and did great.

On Monday, July 12^th, Denise was released from the hospital! The next day, her doctors got permission from NICU for her to go see and hold her baby. She is still weak and tires easily, but is gaining a little more strength each day. She has been able to go regularly to visit and hold her newborn daughter.

They are staying nearby the hospital, waiting for the baby to be released so that they can all be home together as a family. This past Sunday, Timothy was able to finally go see and hold his baby girl, and give her a bath.

I was amazed at the faith of my nephew during everything that was going on with his wife, not knowing what the future held. He had complete trust in God during everything that was happening; even though he was exhausted, stressed and concerned for his wife and wanting to be with his daughters.

Adversity can often strengthen our faith, because we know that our only hope is in Jesus; or it causes bitterness and anger at God to occur, due to our circumstances. The outcome isn't always as we desire, but holding steadfastly to our faith in God is a choice we have to make, regardless of what life brings.

I've been on both sides -- when my prayers were answered and a miracle happens; and when my prayers weren't answered as I wanted and I've experienced loss. But neither changes who God is or His love for me.

I begged God to heal my mama from cancer when I was a teenager, and believed that He could and would do so. When she passed away, my faith was tested. I was devastated! I remember waking up early on the morning of her funeral, knowing that I had a choice to make; I could either continue to hold onto my faith and trust God, or I could become angry and rebel and turn my back on God. That was a pivotal moment for me. My bible was lying beside me and I let it fall open. It opened to Matthew chapters 6 and 7, and I read those words. Those scriptures gave me hope and encouraged me to cling to Jesus, instead of turning away. I still grieved and my heart was broken; but I had Jesus to lean on.

We can take the scripture that nothing is too hard for God, thinking it means that we will always receive whatever we pray for and the miracle will always happen as we desire and God will answer our prayers as we want. Sometimes the miracle happens, as it did for Timothy and Denise. And we rejoice and thank God when it does! But sometimes the miracle is us holding steadfastly to our faith in Christ, even when difficulties happen and the outcome isn't as we desired and we feel devastated. Either way, we keep our focus on God and trust Him!

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

It isn't easy to hold onto faith when a prayer isn't fulfilled as we hope. Honestly, we can all give up for a time.

When that happens, it is important to look back on times we had faith at its strongest. When times are hardest, remember the times it wasn't hard. Remember prayers answered, and miracles. And listen and rejoice with others who are receiving their miracles and answered prayers.

ON THE MENEWE:

Apple Salad

Add dry pudding and Cool Whip together. Add remaining ingredients and told together. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

I grew up with music being a very important part of my life. My sisters and I sang at home and at church. Our parents were good singers. We attending "singings" at local churches, where anyone who could sing would do so. We attended revivals and loved the "song service" (called worship nowadays). Our family sometimes attended a big outdoor concert where well-known gospel singers would come and sing.

This past week my sister, Janie, and I took a vacation for a few days. We played this made-up game of "Who sang this song," then would take off singing various songs. We came up with songs that neither of us had thought of for many years!! And surprisingly, we remembered a lot of the words. It was fun reminiscing and thinking of so many songs that we had grown up singing and thinking of!

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

While it looks like things are out of control,

behind the scenes there is a God who has not surrendered His authority. - A.W. Tozer

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org