Proverbs 3:5-6
New International Version (NIV)

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.

So glad Tonya Floyd started a Lyme Support Group here in Fort Wayne, Indiana!

About twenty of us met today in a local church, much like the setting I’ve met in before for both 12-step groups (Al Anon ACOA) and Fibromyalgia Support Groups years ago.  Like they say, I just “keep coming back,” “round the tables” seeking those who understand, for hope and comfort.  Glad that this group is here.  So many groups get negative, discouraging, tangential, and dominated by one or two people.  I find that a professional facilitator helps keep things on track.  This group has two volunteer facilitators and they do keep things moving along, making sure everyone is heard in some way or another.  Even support groups need healthy boundaries, eh?

Felt priviledged to be able to share some of my professional expertise today.  Turns out that I haven’t forgotten that much since taking a medical leave of absence in March of this year.  I was beginning to wonder if my rustiness was giving way to incompetence; certainly my dulled intellect from treating Lyme Disease and its co-infections brings doubt of any skill I used to have.  Still can cook, clean, and drive my truck.  But provide occupational therapy?  Well, turns out there’s a great deal still here within me! 

Thank you Lord for helping me to share some helpful tools with my fellow sojourners.  Thank you for keeping my mind clear despite the four hours of sleep last night and change in schedule.  Thank you for helping me to connect with my peers afterwards, chasing away the isolation I have been feeling recently.  You are my Lord and I trust you completely.  With love, :J

Jeremiah 29:13

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Image                                      

This is a resurrection lily.  Long, green leaves emerge in springtime with the tulips then fade with the warmth of summer.  By the 4th of July, I forget that there are there, under the soil.  Then in the Fall, these striking pink, yellow, and violet lillies emerge on single stems, sharing its beauty for just under 2 weeks.   I received these from a friend when I was going through a tough time three years ago.  Now they are a sweet reminder of her thoughtfulness and the majesty of the Creator of the universe. 

Just when I am overwhelmed at my physical struggles, my mind consumed with doomsday thinking about this or that, if I can squeak out a prayer, He answers! My Lord and Savior meets me right there in my sweat-soaked nightgown with His loving presence.  If I but remain faithful to trust Him, call upon Him, He shows me His beauty and grace, mercy and peace, gentleness and comfort.   I am not alone.

If the resurrection lily gets a do-over in how it first appears, then I must also do-over my first impression of an unlovely moment in time.  It an’t the whole story.  It isn’t the end of the story either.

No suprise that God speaks to me through His creation.  Mankind started the  journey of life in a Garden.  I blush like the lily.  He knows my heart so well, cares for the cries of my heart so well.  Thank you for meeting me at 1:00 a.m. today.  Thank you for loving me,

sweet Jesus.