Even If

There are two incredibly powerful words in the English language:  Even If.  Think about it.  At a wedding, we hear vows that say the husband and wife promise to love each other for better or worse, for richer or poorer, and in sickness or in health.  You could substitute "even if" here...

A man promises to love his wife even if things get bad.  Any things.

A woman promises to love her husband even if they lose all of their money.

They promise each other that they will love each other, be there for each other, promise to support one another even if one of them gets sick.

You know, many people don't take their vows seriously.  In the instance where one of the married duo gets a chronic illness, the divorce rate is 75%.  Three out of four marriages involving chronic illness end in divorce.  All marriages.  Christian marriages.  No one is exempt.

Sometimes in life, we need to think about the "even ifs" before we commit to something. You can't go into a marriage thinking, "Well, if it doesn't work out we can always get divorced."

NO.  That should not be an option.  If you picture worst case scenario with your future spouse and think of *anything* that would be a deal breaker, save yourself a lot of trouble and just say no.

It's not easy.  It's against basic human nature to choose to be uncomfortable.  To go against the flow.  To "fight city hall" as it were.  But some things are SO worth it.  Like your marriage.

Another thing that's totally worth investing wholly in is God.  I speak from experience here...God has bailed me out so many times in this life.  But there are times He hasn't.  And that's when I have to choose. I want to be like Daniel, and say, "'King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand.  But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty,  that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.'"  (Daniel 3:16-18NIV)

Wow.  Just wow.  Daniel and his 3 friends were in a foreign land, facing a formidable opponent.  They were being threatened with being thrown into a furnace.  A furnace so hot that the people opening the doors could drop dead from the intensity of the heat. But their commitment to God was so strong, and their faith so unwavering, that they dared to say, "Even if."

There is an amazing song on the radio right now by this very name.  It's by Mercy Me.  Here are the lyrics of the chorus:

"I know You're able, and I know You can, save through the fire with your mighty hand, but even if You don't, my hope is you alone.  I know the sorrow and I know the hurt, would all go away if You just say the word, but even if you don't, my hope is you alone."

Amen and amen.  When that song comes on, I belt it out as loud as I can.  I plead with myself to remember every. single. word. God IS my hope.  He is the only reason I am still on this planet, and I will cling to to Him.

Even if.... I'm never healed of MG this side of heaven.

Even if.... He never answers my prayers for more children.

Even if....

Even if.

You Carried Me: A Book Review

Book Cover photo courtesy of Amazon.com

Melissa Ohden was 14 years old when she discovered she was the result of an unsuccessful abortion.  Yes, you read that right.  Melissa was adopted after a saline abortion failed to kill her.  This book is an incredible memoir of a life determined to be lived.

Melissa Ohden was adopted; a fact she had known her whole life.  What she did NOT know, until she was 14 years old, was that her birth mother had a saline abortion to try to terminate her life.  Four days after the abortion process started, her birth mother delivered a baby that she was told was dead. Melissa's maternal grandmother was the nurse that delivered the baby and attempted to cover up the fact that the baby was very much alive.

A kind nurse took Melissa (whom they nicknamed Katie Rose since she obviously wasn't given a name), to the NICU where she continued to grow and even thrive.  She had NO physical scarring from the attempted abortion.

"A saline abortion is performed by injecting the caustic saline solution into the amniotic fluid that surrounds an unborn baby in the second trimester. The baby breathes in the fluid, which burns her lungs and scorches her skin, causing her to die within several hours. The mother then goes through labor to give birth to the dead baby."  http://liveactionnews.org

Melissa's miraculous story is told in her book, "You Carried Me", just released today. The fact that she survived this horrific procedure is miracle enough; the fact that she has NO physical scars is beyond astonishing.

Melissa tells of her search for her biological parents, her own parenting adventure, and her faith in God that always carried her through. This book is truly inspirational.  For anyone who has ever doubted their reason for being here, I highly recommend "You Carried Me."

You can find this book here:You Carried Me  

Or here: Barnes and Noble

Catching Up

I am purely ashamed at my lack of posts lately.  Some posts I wrote in my head, and then thought better of publishing... My mouth (or posts in this case) can get me in trouble, so I'm glad my brain is actually AHEAD of the words for once.  Unfortunately, that means I haven't been blogging as much because of that.

However, I'm done censoring myself.  I don't like it.  I'm not diplomatic, I'm not politically correct, my Biblical views probably really annoy the crud out of some people, but ya know what?  I have decided that I thoroughly do. not. care.  I will NEVER purposefully offend someone.  NEVER.  That is from my mouth to God's ear.  I won't do it.  However, if I inadvertently offend someone by expressing MY opinion, oh well.  I'm DONE worrying about it.

Anywho. Enough drama.  I'm just back to being me.  PLUS, seriously, homeschooling is taking WAY more time than I had thought.  AND I have a craft show on November 10 that I have been preparing for.  NOTHING on my jewelry site (www.facebook.com/MGKerriJewelry) is going to the show.  I have over 100 pendants, 100 cell phone lanyards with charms, 100 cell phone dust plugs with charms, and I still have to do more wine glass rings and wine bottle "necklaces."  IIIIIIIIII know.  I'm crazy.

So what else has been going on....

{crickets}

Okay then.

No really....between homeschooling, trying to take care of the house, medical appointments and jewelry, that's pretty much my life.  Oh, and my pen pals and CBI stuff.

Speaking of pen pals, I want to put the link to Christian Pen Pals on here, because I think it's very important.  It's a ministry a lot of home-bound Christians can do.  It's a serious commitment, however, and one not to be entered into lightly.

You can check my sidebar for the link.  Just check it out, go over the guidelines, and see if it's a match for you.  Besides Matthew 25:35, 36 and 40...

"For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;  I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’....  And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’"

...the author of Hebrews (Who is really God, since He authored the whole Bible) tells us in chapter 13:3 to "Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering."  

I may not be able to GO to a prison or jail and minister to people, but I SURELY can remember them in prayer, and by writing to them.  Of all of society, those incarcerated are probably the most forgotten.  Some of them have NO ONE.  And that breaks my heart. As lonely as I get, at least I have a home and a family.

Anywho.  Enough for now.  I am committing to doing a better job of blogging.  Last year I wrote 175 pages of my book in the month of November, so while I'm not going to do this again this year, I AM going to try and post every single day.

Wish me luck!

Be Careful What You Wish For!

Has anyone ever said that to you? I've certainly heard it a lot. But it can be true: our words are powerful, and our petitions can have implications we have not prepared for.



For example, have you ever wanted to re-do an entire room? I wanted a beautiful walk in pantry. So we converted the old entryway to the house into a pantry. Hardwood floors, new drywall, paint, new light fixtures, new shelves, even crown moulding! And an adorable white screen door that you have to open to walk into the pantry. It's more beautiful than I could have imagined.



But do you know what we had to do to get it that way?? It was hideous. My husband has this amazing ability to see things in his head as they will be finished. I, however, do not. I just saw a huge mess that could never amount to anything.



He had to strip everything...the floor (I think we even saw the original dirt floor!!), the ceiling, walls, right down to the studs. It went from a pathetic, dingy room with bowed shelves nailed on the walls (with PANELING on the walls AND ceiling!) to absoluely bare nothingness. But it was not until it was broken down to nothing that it could be remade beautifully.



See where I'm going here???



"The Process of Holiness

We ask that God would make us holy. It is a good request indeed. But are we prepared to be sanctified by any process that God in His wisdom may call on us to pass through? Are we ready to be purified by affliction, weaned from the world by bereavements, drawn nearer to God by losses, sicknesses and sorrow? Alas! these are hard questions. But if we are not, our Lord might well say to us, “You don’t know what you are asking.”"


~ J.C. Ryle



I remember shortly before I got really, really sick, I submitted my life 100% to God, to do with what He saw fit to bring me in to closer relationship with Him. Friends, I got GUTTED! I went from a pathetic, dingy vessel to be stripped down....Lost my job, my church family, many of me "friends", my independence, my health, my ability to breathe normally, my singing voice, and a lot of baggage that needed to be let go.



I am still still very much in the process of being restored, but I tell you, even in my semi-finished state, I am a better person than I EVER was before. And it's only going to get better.

If you've been around me for any length of time, you will probably hear me talk about The Blessings of Brokenness by Charles Stanley. If you struggle with any kind of suffering or loss, you MUST read this book. It changed my life. God loves all of us too much to leave us where we are...too far away from Him. He will do whatever is necessary to bring you to Himself.

That may mean giving up a relationship He knows isn't good for you. It may mean finally kicking that habit you know isn't good for you. It may mean suffering. But don't EVER think God is punishing you. God doesn't PUNISH His children. He discliplines them, but that's not ever what I'm talking about here.



I'm talking about pruning, I suppose. If a tree had feelings, it probably wouldn't feel so good getting a bunch of your arms chopped off every year. Yet if it didn't, it would get overgrown and it's fruit or flowers wouldn't be as full and wonderful as they could be!

I'm not sure if God will heal me on this side of heaven or not. I know, however, in my heart, 100%, that I WILL be healed one way or another. I am on my way; I just may not get all the way there before I reach heaven. If God can use this broken vessel to reach out to someone before He fixes it, so be it. It is NOTHING compared to the glory that will be eventually, but certainly, be demonstrated in me. God Bless you all today, no matter where you are!