The Sweet Spot

Sunday morning I attended church for the first time in weeks and was moved by the sermon. As I faced my Monday morning I was reminded of God's amazing Grace.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8
And His love will never waver or change, no matter what.
It is not dependent upon performance, status, possessions, beauty, feelings, etc.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1 John 4:10

While waiting to heal, I have been planning, processing and anticipating a new beginning.
Asking the Lord God to be my shepherd and guide me creatively, practically and a desire to dig deeper in His word.

My 5 year old staple prayer: To seek Him above all things and to learn how to worship Him in
everything I do.

'Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6: 19,20

These things I look forward to:
Just to open up my bible without propping it up on three pillows and soak in his word.....for as long as I want, without physical limits.
Writing in my prayer journal, playing my piano, writing & notating music, and to begin again the challenge and blessing of creating my flash card system to memorize scripture.
(this flash card thing I learned from my sister Jody)

To help me establish a starting point, I pulled out my prayer journals from 2006-2009 to see where I was with the Lord, what I was studying, learning, memorizing, who I had been praying for, answers to prayer, my struggles, my praises, etc.
I could see that in the memory verse department, it took me a year and a half to memorize 1 Peter 1:1-25- 1 Peter 2:1-12
This was tough for me....but the blessing was sweet.
I could see specific patterns in my journals when life was cruising along without a hitch, my time in the word sometimes seemed rushed and mechanical. It was humbling.

There were seasons of unbearable grief and brokenness.
These were the richest, deepest most profound times. God will not waste suffering or heartache.
For as deep as the heartache, His love will run deeper still.
As an artist, I can only describe it this way:
from these times of affliction
every pigment on my canvas will be richer, deeper, more beautiful.
Every melody written will be sweeter and each chord more colorful.
All because He will not waste anything.
He is a loving and compassionate God.
The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. Psalm 145:8

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

God is faithful to meet us, right where we are, loving us unconditionally, covered by His amazing grace and tucked safely in the shadow of His wings.


Today marks one month and 2 days since my surgery.
I had my appointment for a follow up Xray and met with my Doctor this afternoon.
My hardware is perfect, my healing is progressing perfectly and I am SO thankful.
My Xray will be the gauge for future follow ups and to keep an eye of a couple of other discs that have signs of degenerative disc disease.
Poo-poo. They don't scare me! ;o>
I have graduated from the soft collar and do not need it anymore. Yay!
(gotta come up with a colorful and creative line of collar covers for us individuals who need a bit of piZZazz while healing...I'll keep ya posted)
Friday I begin pt 2-3x per week (8 weeks) and I am also committed to walking at least 2x a week with a dear friend. Love the fellowship..and the exercise helps me sleep well.

Thank you for the prayers.
And for listening (reading).
Yadda, yadda, yadda.


Please pray for my dear friend who recently discovered her daughter's biopsy was malignant.
Also, her mom has just been diagnosed with colon cancer. Surgery was Tuesday and went well.
I appreciate your prayers for them.