Monthly Archives: May 2014

The Bible on Birth

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To all my precious “unbelievers”, please don’t bale on me now.

As I mentioned in my upcoming book, “My Precious Life”, the Bible is one of my favorite books. I love what I learn from reading it, especially about my life and where I came from. There are some who can’t see the reasoning in this, but I for one, can see it clearly, especially when it is spelled out so beautifully. I have never doubted where I came from and because of that I’m sure of where I am going. Here then, is a smattering of the Bible on birth.

 

Psalm 22: 9-10 …yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

 

Isaiah 46: 3-4…I have carried you since you were born; I have taken care of you from your birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of you…

 

Psalm 71: 5,6…Lord, you have been my confidence since my youth. You brought me forth from my mother’s womb; from birth I have relied on you…(9) do not cast me away when I am old…(17) Since my youth oh God, you have taught me…(18) even when I am old and gray do not forsake me oh God…

 

Psalm 139: 13 &16…You knit me together in my mother’s womb. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

 

Jeremiah 1: 5…Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…

 

Job 1: 21 …Naked I came from my mother’s womb…

 

Job 10: 8…Your hands shaped me and made me…

 

Job 10: 12…You gave me life and showed me kindness…

 

1 John 3: 9…No one who is born of God will continue to sin because God’s seed remains in him…

 

Psalm 27: 10…My father and mother may abandon me, but the Lord will take care of me

 

Genesis 1: 28…Be fruitful and increase in number…9:7…be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it

 

Deuteronomy 28; 11…The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity – in the fruit of your womb…

 

Deuteronomy 28: 4…The fruit of your womb will be blessed…

Who could ask for anything more?

Tomorrow: The Bible on Prosperity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Wrinkle in Time (The Book)

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It is said that there is no such thing as a coincidence, but if that is the case, I would like someone to explain this life event to me.

In 1996 when I had my broken bones accident, as I like to call it, I spent a lot of time watching television when I wasn’t doing therapy.

One evening, author, Madeleine L’Engle, was being interviewed about her many books, including “A Wrinkle in Time”. I was entranced with her demeanour and the title of that book. It was an old book, out of print, and very hard to find now, she told the interviewer.

I promised myself that when I was out and about again I would go to The World’s Biggest Book Store in downtown Toronto, to look for it.   That store is renowned for having hard to find books.

One day, when I had graduated to crutches, I went to visit my Aunt in hospital. My husband dropped me off at the door and went to park the car. I meandered into the gift shop while waiting for him, and came upon a basket of books on sale for 25 cents each. They were in a complete mess from people rooting through them, and I decided to tidy them up.

The first book I picked up was A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L’Engle.

How do you explain that?

Found Money

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This dream goes back to 1960. Being the mother of four active children, ages six, four, two and a one year old baby, I  wasn’t journaling back then but I remember the dream as if it was last night.

It was another recurring dream where night after night I dreamt about finding money. I’d be cleaning the furniture and pull out a handful of coins from deep within the sofa.

The garden was another treasure trove. Buried in the soil where I was planting flowers, was another handful of coins.

There was money between mattresses, under beds, in the sugar bowl, and in the children’s toy box. In one dream, I lifted the lid of our large outdoor garbage can and a pile of coins lined the bottom of it.

I never tired of these dreams. They were a welcome relief from the daily burden of trying to make ends meet. We were a young couple raising four little ones on one salary and there were times when money was pretty scarce.

And then a very sad, but wonderful thing happened. My grandmother Lydia, who I introduced in My Precious Life, died and in her will, left me one thousand dollars.

Do you know what? I never again dreamt about finding money.

Hit and Miss

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I’m really glad I kept a dream journal over the years because those dreams have become a part of my life story, although they didn’t all make it into My Precious Life. It is said that dreams about flying are good, but this next dream was somewhat different in its message. I didn’t quite get it.

The airplane flying over our house sounded like it was in trouble. I could see it losing altitude, nose down, heading for our back yard.

I had this dream three nights in a row, and was due to fly on a bush plane to my daughter and son-in-law’s cabin on Trout Lake in a few days.

The night before leaving, I had this dream.

I was in the cabin alone when I heard the loud, droning sound of a plane in trouble. I stood stock still as it crashed into the cabin and stopped right behind me.

“It hit, but it missed!” I thought.

Once at the cabin, Brian, my son-in-law, took us for a boat ride around the lake.

“There’s Hit and Miss Lodge,” he said, pointing to a resort on a small island. I was astounded to hear those words, and told Brian about my dreams.

He smiled at me and said, “The cabin is on Hit and Miss Bay.”

And now, after all these years, I get it. The message was that there is a message in our dreams.

 

 

Fighting Fear

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Before I relate this dream, I want it known that I had long longed for “the gift of tongues”, a spiritual gift referred to in 1 Corinthians 12:10, but it was not to be for me.

This is the dream I had in February, 2002.

Some friends were gathered in the kitchen of one of my previous homes. Off this room was a door leading to the basement. Suddenly, strange and eerie sounds began emanating from that area. We all felt a wave of fear, and no one wanted to open the door to investigate.

Finally, I couldn’t bear the feeling of fear any longer and slowly opened the door as everyone backed away. I peered down into the darkness and saw our pet dog trying to bury himself under a pile of blankets on a sofa. A very eerie feeling penetrated that space, and an unseen force seemed to move towards the stairs where I was standing. I wanted to slam the door and run, but I didn’t want to live in fear, so I sat on the top stair and feebly yelled something into thin air.

At first, sounds just squeaked out of my mouth, but then got louder and louder, and the “something” in the basement tried to hide. By now the sounds seemed to be pushing out of my diaphragm, becoming a forceful chant and Kelly, the dog, came out of hiding and scampered up the stairs.

My husband woke me up asking if I was okay. He said I was shouting in a language he had never heard before.

Do I have the gift of tongues? In my dreams.

Dream Birds

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Dreams can be spiritual messages that you are being lovingly cared for by divine forces. They are like angels in that they bring both good news and urgent warnings. (From “Wrestling With Your Angels by Janet O. Hagberg)

A friend recently posted a cute and comic link on Facebook about birds which reminded me of another meaningful dream I had in 2000. The reason I remember these dreams is because I keep a dated dream journal.

And now for the dream birds.

Before falling asleep, I said a prayer to wake up at 7 a.m. for a church-oriented workshop in the morning. I am a very sound sleeper and don’t always hear the alarm.

In my dream, a hummingbird got tangled in my hair. I managed to get it loose and it flew to the top of  a birch tree in the yard.  As I watched his flight, another small bird nestled under my chin; then another one nuzzled one side of my neck, while yet another pressed against the other side.  They were nudging my face with their plump, feathery little bodies. I was getting annoyed with them when I felt one get under the hair at the back of my neck. I began to panic and tried to call for help when a fluttering little bird tried to get into my mouth. That’s when I woke up. It was 7:45 a.m and if those feathery little creatures had not invaded my dreams, I would have missed the 9 a.m. workshop.

I love birds and was very thankful for their most timely, although frightening, interruption of my sleep.

The Stranger Who Held My Hand

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Many years ago, during a very trying time in my life, I had a dream where I was walking alone on the observation deck of the TD Centre, Canada’s tallest building in the seventies.

I circled the deck endlessly, feeling sad and depressed after the breakup of my twenty-one year marriage. Somehow, being fifty-six stories above the earth, seeing the city in panorama, was like looking at my future without a partner and I began to cry.

Suddenly, a faceless male figure, dressed in a robe came beside me and held my hand as we continued the walk.

I woke up to a powerful tingling sensation pulsing through my entire body.

I was reading All Things Are Possible Through Prayer by Charles Allen for the umpteenth time (it is such a wonderful book), when I came across this:  “And when a person has a firm hold on God’s hand, he has the power and strength flowing into him to keep him on his feet.”

I had highlighted the passage at some time, and now it reminded me of my dream.

I have always felt that the person in my dream was Jesus.

That dream gave me the strength and confidence to endure the years of single parenting, financial hardship, and life without love until it appeared once again to a waiting heart.

 

Writing From the Heart

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How can I truly make a contribution through my writing? What is my gift and my mission?

This an excerpt from “Writing From the Heart” by Hal Bennett

The most valuable asset we have as writers is ourselves.  Everything that happens to us is potentially raw material for anything we might write.  I am convinced there is such a thing as divine inspiration…it is undoubtedly the most powerful source of our creativity.

We are never more generous, never more blessed, than when we give of ourselves through that little piece of the Creative Spirit that lives in each of us.

Writers need to know how to talk to their readers. The most important and generous thing any of us has to give as a writer is our own voice, how we each experience our lives.       End of excerpt.

I hope you can see how this lovely piece of advice would inspire me to write my story.

Tomorrow:  A Very Spiritual Dream

I’m a Believer

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I believe I was born a believer, but it took the better part of my life for me to realize this as a fact. It’s only in looking back, as I have in writing this book, that I can see God’s hand in my life from the day I first poked my head into this world.

Chapter Forty  –  I’m A Believer

The old, white, clapboard church sat on an angle of land in Pottageville, Ontario. I was four years old when its tolling bell beckoned me. Pottageville is a small hamlet between Schomberg to the west, and Kettleby to the east, along the Aurora Road, north-west of Toronto. My grandma’s small, tar paper house was set back from the road with lots of yard space for my sister, Mary, and me to play. Every Sunday I hung over the barnwood fence, gazing longingly as people streamed up the road towards the church, and disappeared through the wide open door. As I watched, I wondered what went on in there. I begged my grandmother to let me go to church, and one hot, summer morning she dressed me in a pretty white, cotton dress with tiny pink buttons down the front. Pink ankle socks and white shoes completed my outfit. Grandma pulled my long hair tautly into a thick braid that bounced on my back as I skipped happily along the country road. I was greeted at the church door by a pretty lady. “Are you by yourself?” she asked……. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” (Mark 9:23) Tomorrow:  An excerpt from Hal Bennett’s book, Writing From the Heart; one of the many inspirations that led to the writing of My Precious Life.

I’m Still Here

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Surrendering to a grave illness is not the same thing as surrendering to God. I had the wonderful opportunity to push my trust in Him to the limit in 2005, when I was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Chapter Thirty-Nine  –  I’m Still Here

“I have the results of your chest x-ray,” my doctor said, when I answered the phone that 24th of May, 2005. “There’s something growing in your lungs.”

My heart plummeted like a skydiver without a parachute. It was 5:10 pm and I had just had the x-ray at two o’clock that same afternoon.

“Your doctor will have the results in a week,” the technician had said as I left the lab.

“I’ve set up an appointment with a specialist for Friday, May 27th,” the doctor continued now. “You need a CT scan, and he can order it quicker than I can.”

My body tingled as I replaced the receiver. Things like specialist appointments and CT scans take longer than that in the real world.

In a daze, I walked back to the kitchen, where the supper I was enjoying sat half eaten on the table. With shaking hands, I cleaned my plate into the garbage. The only hunger I felt now was for peace of mind, which could only come from God.

“Oh, God, please relieve me of this dread, and let your peace flood my soul,” I prayed.

….may you live to see your children’s children. (Psalm 128:6)

Tomorrow  –  I’m a Believer  –  A Lesson in Knowing