~Thursday~

It's the day I go see the new doctor!!!  I'm excited about this appointment, and feeling at peace with everything.  God is so good to hear our prayers!  I know there are times when it seems like He's far off, but I promise you, He is not.  One of the passages in Scripture I memorized this year is from Psalm 139...I'll share it with you.

"O LORD, You have searched me and You know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways.  Before a word is on my tongue, You know it completely O, LORD.  You hem me in~behind and before~You have laid Your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain!  Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Where can I flee from Your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast."

Those are verses 1~10 that I memorized early on in the year.  I never really thought about them having much to do with me until just now.  He does hem me in~behind and before~He goes with me in all that I walk through.  In fact, He's already gone before me.

I guess I'm feeling really reflective this morning.  Have you ever noticed in the Old Testament, the word "Lord" is sometimes in all caps?  Like in the above passage?  Do you know why?  I learned this in Bible study this Monday night.  It's because that word in the Hebrew is YAHWEH.  Or YHWH.  Do you know what is so special about that word???  That word is so mighty, so powerful, so holy and reverent that it is almost unable to even be uttered.

Whew.  Cold chills.  That same God walks with me today as I go to this appointment with a new doctor.  How awesome is that?  How awesome is He?

Yup.  That same God.  I wouldn't be me if I didn't stop here and encourage you in your relationship with Him...do you know Him intimately?  Do you cling to Him and His word?  If the answer is no, you are missing out!  If I only say one thing on this entire post worth "taking home", let it be this: get to know Him!  The closer we are to Him, the less we worry and fret about the world going on around us.  In fact, did you know that the direct opposite of faith is fear?

It is.  And discouragement?  It is straight from the enemy.  I'm not saying we'll never have discouragement again~but the enemy knows if he can get a foothold in any area of our lives, it will be in this area.  I consider that spiritual warfare~all I know is the more I focus on God and His attributes and on being thankful in all my trials and tribulations, the less concerned I am with me and my health!

Moving on now, have I told you lately how horrid poison oak is?

It is.  This poor baby is still suffering so much from his.  My mom brought some Burt's Bees poison ivy soap to us, and I think it's working better than the topical cream the doctor prescribed for them!  Both Todd and Noah were getting worse yesterday, they both found new spots with the poison oak.  They used the soap last night, and already, I can tell a huge difference.  Thank the good Lord for that!

It took me sweet forever to get dressed today.  I have been told to take it easy, so while getting dressed, I kept having to go stop and sit.  In doing so, I folded some laundry while I was sitting down and noticed this cutie:

He was laying his little head down on Todd's folded laundry.

One last picture, and it's one I found on Instagram last night.  I love this verse and thought it pertained to the passage I wrote above and applying it to my life right now.

Well, I need to run~I need to finish cleaning my kitchen before I leave.  My mom-in-love is coming at one to take care of the littles while I'm gone, then when Graham and Drew get home from their school this afternoon, she's loading them all up and taking them to her house.  We're eating dinner with them tonight.  :)  I'm so glad because I am so out of options to consider that don't require an oven.

My mom is coming at one fifteen to be my chauffeur...in the whole "taking it easy" instructions they gave me, that involves not walking excessive amounts.  And everyone knows that when your doctor is in a hospital, lots of walking is required.  Man will I ever be glad to return to normal.  I've almost forgotten what it's like.  Love to all!