Hello Friends,
We’ve had an epidemic of Pertussis (whooping cough) in our county, community, and family. Due to the fact that my two-week old grandbaby was unknowingly exposed, our county’s health department put our whole family on antibiotics three weeks ago. Our daughter, Jennifer, who still lives at home, had a severe case of it and is only now beginning to feel better. As I write this, we’re in the fourth week of this insidious, silent illness spreading to just about every family we know. It has practically taken over our lives—the strategizing, the juggling, the canceling of commitments, appointments, meetings, regular life activities, the taking turns being the helpers for those who need it, the forced separations, and the praying, lots of praying. Although I was daily exposed to my daughter’s case for over 2 weeks before she was diagnosed, amazingly and gratefully, I haven’t caught it and neither has Jim. However, I’ve been re-exposed since the antibiotic wore off and am supposed to stay away from people as much as possible.
Wow, this has been hard for all of us since we are so much a part of each other’s daily lives. We’ve not been able to hug and kiss our children, grandchildren, and close friends for weeks, and now I’m on symptom watch and must maintain distance…Well, I know there are lots of analogies and spiritual metaphors one can draw from this experience, and my dear friend, Barbie Poling, wrote an insightful blog with the inspiration that comes from her perspective of our mutual experience. As for me, I really like to see how God redeems distressing and challenging situations, and so this unwanted separation reminds me of something from long ago…when I had laryngitis.
My kids were young and we were in our second or third year of homeschooling, when one morning, I woke up with laryngitis. I could only whisper, and so because my kids couldn’t hear me unless they kept their voices down to a whisper when they played, they learned to do it. It was the quietest day we ever had! That day the Lord taught me to provide more particular instruction for invisible boundaries in our relationships, which included voice projection and other noisy activity, and the times it’s okay to just have noisy fun. My children grew in self-government and learned when it was appropriate to sing out loud (making noise) around other people, play music, tapes, and so on…One challenging day turned into wisdom for ongoing training of my kids in self-government. I love how God redeems a situation when we have a watchful, listening heart to know what He wants to do. He doesn’t waste any part of our lives when we love Him.
God has allowed me to have many far more challenging situations in my life since then, and I still like to see how He’s going to redeem the time, the loss, the stress, the lack, the weaknesses, the shortages, even long seasons of chronic distresses and sufferings. He redeems them all and brings all things together for my good, because I love Him and am called according to His purposes. His ways are not my ways, and they are far above my own ways of thinking (Isaiah 55:8). I’m so grateful.
I always ask the Lord what He wants to do through a challenging situation and I always get an answer, not right away every time, but He does provide understanding in His good time. Here’s what I’m going to do with this unwanted, partial separation. I’m going into my hideaway to fast and pray as much as life will allow me. I haven’t had my own place to be alone for quite some time, and so I’m really looking forward to time with the Lord, but it’s been hard to “get there” with all the demands on my life. The phone will still ring, I’ll still talk to my kids and team helpers everyday, the work still needs to get done, Barbie and I will still have phone planning sessions, and I’ll even get to work on the 2nd part of the new seminar I’m doing for LOLACHE members, “The Heart of the Learning Process”, but I get to be alone more than usual, just me and the Lord!
What current situation does God want to redeem in your life? Ask Him what He wants to do through it. I encourage you to believe Him to do something in you or believe Him for an unpredictable blessing to come out of it. I know God is preparing answers to my prayers even before they’re prayed, and He’s also preparing good works for me to walk in. “He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you” (Isaiah 30:19). He wants to do the very same for you too. Turn all of your trust toward Him, and let Him release His comforting assurance into your life.
If you need a bit of instruction for how to receive assurance from God, read “Blessed Assurance”, an article I wrote with practical actions you can take to “practice” developing your faith in God to answer the cries of your heart.
I pray you are blessed with your own blessed assurance from our Good Lord as I have been.
So grateful to be in the Lord’s service,
Marilyn Howshall for Lifestyle of Learning™ Ministries
[Lifestyle of Learning™/LOLACHE eNewsletter ~ Feb 15, 2012, Issue 11]
Sorry to hear about the pertussis epidemic. We had it in our family a few years ago. There is a homeopathic remedy for pertussis called drosera rotundifolia that is effective at reducing the severity of the coughing. I pray everyone recovers quickly.
Thank you Laurie, I’ve passed your information on to my family and friends. We seem to be out of the threat to our immediate family and community. We’re still praying for extended community.