Faith Building Proof

Sometimes I have to chuckle at how awesome God is. A funny incident happened to me yesterday afternoon that reminded me how God does in fact care about even the silliest, minute details in our lives. But before I divulge yesterday's discovery, I must back up to almost two weeks ago . . .

It was a very windy Friday afternoon and Nate and I were suppose to go to my parents house to eat supper with them and my grandparents. Nate was running very late and I was getting more and more agitated by this fact as time went on (I hate to admit it, but yes, I am a very impatient person by nature). I finished freshening up and decided to wear my FAVORITE pair of sterling silver hoop earrings that were given to me by my mother-in-law for Christmas. I love them - and I am not exaggerating by any means when I say they are my favorite!

I thought I heard Nate in the driveway so I decided to go outside and see if he was there, while trying to call him on my cell phone at the same time. Bad idea on a windy day! I stepped out the front door and the wind was so strong that my screen door almost blew off so I secured it back into place and headed straight into the wind while walking to my driveway. Of course Nate wasn't there, so I headed back inside. The moment I stepped into the house it dawned on me that I only had one earring dangling on the side of my neck. To my absolute HORROR - I had lost the other earring!! That's right, the wind was so strong that it blew the earring (which was obviously not clasped correctly) right out of my ear.

Given the current situation, I then was extremely upset about my earring. (Most girls understand the devestation of having only 1 earring left of your favorite pair - it's just not right! It's like driving your car with 3 wheels instead of 4!) I looked outside for the earring for a good half hour until Nate finally arrived home (to a very upset wife - I must clarify that I am usually a very joyful person by nature, but this particular day was not going well for me. I was mostly irritated about losing my favorite earring; however, him being late only fueled the fire of being upset so it was not a good start to our evening! I did later apologize for my behavior because it was wrong, and our evening ended very nicely.)

A few days later, it somehow came up in our Bible Study that I had lost the earring. The pastor could tell it was still really bothering me, so he prayed that I would find the lost earring even though it was only a material object. That was a week ago.

Sunday afternoon, I decided to mow the lawn, after finally coming to terms with the fact that I had a lonely earring sitting in my jewelry store (I call it a store because it's a huge, free standing jewelry case that has drawers and popout sides - a dream come true for any jewerly loving female). As I mowed, I continued to search for the earring in the hopes that I would at least find out what happened to it, even if I ended up crunching it with the mower. No such luck - the earring was no where to be found.

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon. I went outside at 4:30 p.m. to see if the mail had arrived yet. It had not. It was a fairly beautiful day by this point with the sun shining and a cool breeze. As I returned to the house I noticed something sparkling in the grass. It struck me as odd because nothing had been there when I mowed so I wondered what it could be.

I bent down to pick it up - and it was my lost earring!! How crazy is that?!? I picked it up, looked it over and found that it was in perfect condition - it didn't even have any tarnishing spots on it at all. I ran into the house and was overwhelmed with giggles because I knew that the only reason it showed up is because we prayed about it. Isn't that funny? I didn't even want prayer for the earring, but God prompted pastor's heart to pray for it anyway because God loves to surprise his children!

God is so awesome - he knew that I could live without the earring; I had finally come to that conclusion and even though it was annoying to have one lonely earring, I was fine - life went on just the same. Nothing life or death. Only God knew the girlish joy that would come in my heart from finding something lost and how it could bring me to complete giggles at how amazing he is.

As I sit here telling this story, it has dawned on me that the overwhelming feeling of joy, giggles, and delight that I felt over finding my lost earring is exactly how Jesus feels when we come home to him after being lost. Maybe you are reading this story and you realize that the wind has blown you away from your home - maybe you are lost and apart from Jesus. Guess what, there is still hope. You can still find your way home and come back to Jesus. He won't be upset when you return because you might have gotten "dirty" while away from home. He will be so overwhelmed with joy, delight, and sheer giggles at the sight of seeing you after longing for you to come back that he will scoop you up in his arms and hold on to you!

I hope your heart is inspired by this story and that you are reminded at how awesome our loving God is. Have a great day and God bless!

Inspire

It has been awhile since my last posting. Life has such a way of getting crazy busy before I even realize it! This might be a very random posting, but I just feel that I need to say these few words.

Over the last week I have realized that God has clearly been placing new desires in my heart. I have felt God preparing me to write a book and speak publicly about living a full life in the midst of obstacles and uncertainty for a few years now. I am excited to announce that over the past week, God has confirmed these new desires through various circumstances (that I will dive into at another time). But for now, I simply want to take a brief moment to inspire you . . .

Whoever you are, it is not by chance that you are reading this blog. Whether you are a friend of mine or a random blog surfer passing some time, I truly believe that you have been led here for a reason. Dear friend, I want to inspire you by telling you that whatever you are going through right now, it will get better. I have been through a lot in my short life on this earth, and I can tell you that I have had some very dark days. Days when I was ready to give up and let my enemies win (one of those days actually happened within the last week!) But, the sun does shine again . . . I promise! Traveling through dark valleys is part of growing. It makes us stronger and able to handle future circumstances with a vigor we have never known. Stay postive, smile, and trust that the sun will shine again . . . soon.

If you are someone that is called into a position of leadership, allow me to inspire you with some words that were spoken to my heart by God this past week. "Leaders don't hide; they may be scared, but they don't hide. Leaders lead by example, by doing."

My new life's goal is to inspire people to be the best that they can; to realize that they can make it through life's struggles, no matter how dark it may seem at the moment, and that they will be stronger on the other side of those struggles! I also want to inspire people to become a healthier version of themselves so they can live a healthier life!

Please know that I don't claim to know everything or be a perfect person - I'm going through all of this just the same as everyone else, and I make my share of mistakes. But be inspired knowing that there is someone out there experiencing similar situations and surviving them. Believe me, if I can do it - so can you!

Have a blessed day. Be healthy - and be inspired!

Everyday Miracles

James 5:16
"...pray for each other so that you may be healed."

We serve an amazing God, who is just waiting for us to ask him for a miracle. Most of us probably don't notice everyday miracles that God provides because we may be too busy with work, families, t.v., . . . the list goes on. If we could all just cut out the distractions and focus on God, we would be stunned at what we would see him doing in our lives. That being said, I want to give a personal testimony of a small, everyday miracle that God provided for me today.

Last night at about 6 p.m. my right eye starting feeling very strained, itchy, and I was having blurred vision. By the end of the night, it was really red, a little swollen, and very goupy (sorry if this is a little gross). Both Nate and I were pretty sure that it was pink eye, although I wouldn't know because I've never had pink eye. Nate, on the other hand, is a frequent pink eye patient so he is well aware of the symptoms and he was pretty sure that's what I had. (Plus, we looked it up on webmd and all of my symptoms were under "Pink Eye.")

Before we went to bed, we laid hands over my eye and prayed that God would heal it by morning. I really didn't want to get more antibiotics given the fact that I had just finished a bunch a few weeks ago for pneumonia. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. today and my eye was really crusty, so I placed a warm, wet washcloth on it and slept for another two hours.

When I got out of bed at 7:30 a.m. I noticed that my eye felt much better. I looked in the mirror and the majority of the redness was gone, along with the goup and the crust. I placed some eye drops in my eye to give it extra moisture and figured I would keep a close watch on it throughout the day. It is now 6 p.m. (24 hours later) and my eye is completely fine and back to normal! I give all praise and glory to God for this because he answered our prayer and provided a miracle for Nate and I. It may seem like a small miracle, but nonetheless, it is still a miracle.

So, I want to challenge you to look for everyday miracles in your own life. If you take the time to look for God's hand in your life, you will find it. God bless!

Bitter Sweet Exhaustion!

Over the past few years I have enjoyed exercising; especially after noticing how it has improved my health. I haven't roller bladed for years, and today I decided to try it again since it was a gorgeous spring day. Before I dive into this bitter sweet exhaustion, let me give you some history . . .

I had a cold almost the entire month of April (not good for someone with CF). On April 17th, after 4 days of having a fever of 101 degrees, I finally called my doctor. To no surprise to me, he wanted me to drive to Bismarck that day and be admitted for what we all thought would be a regular "tune-up." (I had stayed out of the hospital for 2 years and was hoping to beat my all time record of 11 years, and now have to start over. But that's another story . . .)

What did surprise me once I got there, is that I had pneumonia!

I haven't had that since I was a baby - I've gone 26 years without getting it and now all of a sudden, boom, there it is. So, the doctor pumped me up with IV meds and sent me home sooner than I had thought at only 5 days later. His instructions to me were to get lots of rest, finish my inhaled and oral antibiotics, and start exercising again.

Well, it is almost one month later and I am feeling better, but still more tired than normal. So, I rest when I need to (this is very difficult for me to do!) The exercising part has been a little more difficult too. I've tried returning to my regular schedule of yoga, budakon, weights, and walking on the treadmill again, but I just can't seem to get back into the swing of things.

Today, was a different story. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Fargo, and I decided to put on my rusty old roller blades (seriously - I need new ones) and go roller blading for a half hour. A little too ambitious I would say!

Twenty minutes into it, I became huffing and puffing so much that I contemplated calling Nate to come pick me up; I was only 4 blocks away from returning home! A few kids on their bikes passed me and looked at me as though they couldn't decide whether to pity me or be disgusted that I was making them slow down too.

I finally pushed myself and made it home, sweaty and exhausted to the max. I stumbled into the house and sprawled across the floor panting and sweating. Then I noticed I was wheezing just a tad so I decided to do a treatment, and now I'm just sitting here blogging.

All I can say about this adventure is that I'm glad I did it, even though it really challenged me. I just wish I was back to the strength I had a few months ago so I wouldn't look like such a wimp to the kids passing me on their bikes!

Standing in the Storms

Inside my body grows an insidious, incurable disease called Cystic Fibrosis. Most people might look at God and blame him for this lifestyle that I have to live. As a Christian, I view it differently. I believe that God has allowed me to walk this path in order to glorify him and grow in my relationship with him. I am very blessed to be healthy and normal 90% of the time; but what about the other 10%? Some days are very gray and difficult to get through. There have been days where I haven’t had the strength to even get out of bed. Trusting God doesn’t always come easily on those days, but I have learned to dig deep and trust in him with every ounce of my being.

We read in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

How do I give thanks in those moments when I am weak and ill? How do I give thanks when I end up in the hospital again and I feel defeated by this malady, overcome with coughing, a fever, loneliness, weariness, and that exhausting feeling that this could be the beginning of the end? How do I trust God in these circumstances and apply his commands to my life?

I start by trusting that God works for the good of those who love him . . . in every situation (Romans 8:28), and by believing that he who began a good work in me, will complete it (Philippians 1:6). I remember that when I am weak, God’s strength shines through and his grace will be sufficient for me (2 Corinthians 12:9).

I trust God and give thanks by knowing that he is here with me. Even in the wind, God is here. A few months ago, while vacationing in Hawaii, I was struck with a revelation. I was frustrated one day with how windy it was. Everywhere I went, it was windy. All I wanted to do was sit in the sun and enjoy the Hawaiian scenery and get a tan, but it was so windy that this desire became difficult and I was frustrated. While staring at the ocean and venting my frustrations to God, I felt him tell me that he was still there, even in the wind. He reminded me that even the wind had a purpose. God whispered in my ear that wind had a way of moving things and uncovering beauty beneath the surface that would have otherwise been undiscovered.

When I have windy days that seem to be filled with endless suffering and darkness, I can remember to be thankful because I know that when the wind is gone, a new beauty will be exposed. I can be thankful for the storms in my life because God is carrying me through them. I will not be easily moved; I will continue to trust in God knowing that he has called me to stand firm and let nothing move me (1 Corinthians 15:58). I can face the storms of life with confidence, knowing that I serve a God that I can trust, and I will stand firm!

(c) 2008 Mandy Anderson

Helium Article - Reflections

I recently joined an online freelance writing organization called Helium. I look forward to providing you with teasers of my work every week. I hope you enjoy this piece!

Title: Fixed Thoughts

I can almost hear the crashing of the waves on the sand and the wind blowing through the palm trees. If I sit here long enough . . . I can almost hear it. Maybe I can find my way back if I stay here, in the dark, staring at the trinkets and memories of days gone by. Maybe . . . it might work.

What is so soothing about this? What is so enticing about sitting in my living room, in the dark, with the only light coming from my china hutch and a small tea light on the end table? I know what it is. It’s the idea of it. It’s the notion that when I stare at the butch grass pots and the sand filled vases showcased in my hutch, I feel like I am still there, only inside instead of out by the ocean. It’s the feeling that I get from the tea light hidden behind a vase filled with rocks; almost like . . . like my own little piece of an enchanting island . . . an island that is thousands and thousands of miles away. Maybe if I sit here for the rest of my days, my memory will overcome the present and I will actually be there.

But why would I want to do that?

Please go to http://www.helium.com/items/1031090-almost-crashing-waves-blowing to finish reading this article.

Girls Weekend with 4 Ever Friends

This weekend I was blessed to spend time with my best friends since 5th grade. We met at Bible Camp and have never lived in the same town, but God has blessed us with an amazing friendship! It is so uplifting to have friends that know you so well and will encourage and pray for you when needed.

To my 4 Ever Friends: "I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers." Ephesians 1:16

Now that we are married and living in different cities and states, we cherish these moments when we can get away and celebrate our friendship! This weekend we caught up on each other's lives and took some time to relax and pamper ourselves with a much needed pedicure and a chic flick - ahh . . . the joy's of being a girl!