God's Gifts in Autumn 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009 Autumn Greetings from IFB & JFB

Make a Smilebox greeting

2009 Autumn in Oklahoma

Make a Smilebox postcard

Thank you!

Thank you seems so inadequate to say to all of you who are praying for (and with) Mom and me, loving us, encouraging us, volunteering to do things to help us, coming to see us, calling us on the phone, sending us cards--the list goes on and on. We are both so very grateful to God for you and for all the things you're doing to help us during this difficult season in our lives.

It is my understanding that the initial pathology report will come while I am still in the hospital. I don't know if I'll receive the final pathology report before being dismissed or not. I am expecting the best report possible. (Nevertheless, not my will, but God's.) I have prayed that the doctors will be surprised at how good everything looks once I am in surgery--and you know that God will get the credit, praise, and thanks for that.

A dear friend will update my CarePage http://www.carepages.com/ as needed so you'll know what's happening as the journey continues. Thanks, Sally! You can find me by using TheTuneRoom as the page name. You must register/join to visit the page, but it is easy to do. I encourage you to leave a message for me--you can even mark it private if you want and only you and I will see it.

It is my habit to pray for people whenever they come to mind because I believe that is Holy Spirit letting me know to pray for people when they need it the most. I will continue to make that my habit during my days in the hospital as well as in the coming weeks as I recuperate.

Love & prayers to each and every one of you. You are near, dear, and precious in my life and in Mom's.

Because of Jesus,
Janet

"The Case of the Disappearing Bride Doll"

My "bride doll" had been missing for many weeks and I was angry that she was gone, yet fearful for her well-being. I knew without a doubt that I had carefully placed her (and the few clothes she owned) back into the third drawer of the marble-topped dresser. This was the bride doll’s "bedroom" and I was certain I’d put her there after my cousins and I had re-enacted yet another wedding with her in the starring role. It did not matter to any of us in her "wedding party" that she had no wedding gown nor veil because we were great at pretending and imagining. I even tried to convince myself through make-believe that my doll was missing because her "honeymoon" with her invisible "groom" had been extended. Still, I feared the worst–that I’d never be able to play with her again.

Although it was never spoken aloud, my radar-instinct told me that since my doll was not to be found in her usual location, that my Mom must believe I had lost her! How could my own Mother think such a thing? I was very careful with my toys, and the bride doll received extra-special attention and care.

"Okay" I reasoned to myself, "since I did not lose a happily-married doll, she must have been kidnapped." As a result of the fact that Mom appeared not to believe me regarding the whereabouts of my doll, I had to be my own private detective in the search for the disappearing bride doll. There was no ransom note to indicate she was kidnapped, so I assumed that one of my cousins had accidentally taken her home with their dolls and toys. By now I’d called in all the troops–aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, parents, etc.-–to help with "The Case of the Disappearing Bride Doll." Everyone assured me that the doll was nowhere to be found at any of their houses. I was discouraged and confused. Where could she be?

Christmas was quickly approaching and I was convinced I would not get any presents, since current evidence indicated that I could not take care of the toys and dolls I already had. How could I expect to get more? No adult ever said such a thing to me, but my overly-active imagination had convinced my already broken heart that nothing else could possibly happen. No gifts at Christmas? It was definitely going to be my saddest Christmas ever.

It was puzzling to me that my parents never expressed anger over the doll being lost. Daddy and Momma were not angry with me very often, but I felt so guilty that I assumed they would at least be annoyed. They weren’t, and I couldn’t figure out why. Perhaps my parents were so irritated that they couldn’t even speak about it! I was really in T-R-O-U-B-L-E if that thought were true.

Christmas Eve found me eager, and yet reluctant to go to bed. Santa most certainly would not deliver presents for me during the night because I’d been naughty and lost my most special doll. As I gazed longingly at the marble-topped chest where my doll was supposed to be, I finally fell asleep in my bed In spite of my childish worries.

On Christmas morning my bare feet were moving quickly along the cold linoleum floor of my bedroom toward the warmth of the carpeted living room. My eyes were open, so I gave the appearance of being awake, even though I did not feel very alert on the inside. (Even as a child I was never a morning person.)

The farm-cut, home-grown Christmas tree of cedar in the living room was twinkling with its multicolored lights and silver tinsel. My sleep-sluggish body contradicted the jolt I felt inside when I looked at the base of the tree. I had to be dreaming! I rubbed my eyes fast and hard to get the "sleepy-seeds" out and to make certain I was awake. Could my bride doll indeed be standing under our Christmas tree? Yet it was unquestionable–my bride doll had come home for Christmas and besides that, she had on a glamorous white-satin bridal gown and veil! She also had a wardrobe case overflowing with beautiful new clothes. In my excitement I ran to her, snatched her up and gave her my best welcome-home hug.

I heard Mom and Dad laughing in the background as they tried to explain what had happened. Grandma Dovie had made all the clothes for my bride doll and she’d needed the doll at her house for all the "fittings" required for the newly-fashioned clothing. In addition to that, all the adults in our family knew exactly where the doll was the entire time! Suddenly I knew why nobody was angry with me–they were all a part of a well-kept secret so that I could be surprised on Christmas morning!

That Christmas I learned in an unexpected way that all hearts really do try to come home at Christmas, even if the "heart" is inside a plastic doll’s body! "The Case of the Disappearing Bride Doll" had now been officially solved. Case closed.


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©10-20-03 and 12-06-04 by Janet Faye Broyles of Edmond, Oklahoma . This devotional is protected by copyright laws and may not be reprinted or posted to a site without permission from Janet F. Broyles. All readers are welcome to forward the devotional to a friend or link to it. If you would like to seek permission to reprint the devotional in full, please leave a message for me here.
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Build a little fence of trust....

This morning Mom read this to me over the phone:
Build a little fence of trust
Around today;
Fill the space with loving work
And therein stay.
Look not through the protective rails
Upon tomorrow;
God will help you bear what comes
Of jor or sorrow.
by Mary Butts from Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman (November 21 reading)

Good News/Bad News

UPDATE WRITTEN ON 11-17-08:
I went to my pre-op appointment on Monday, November 17 thinking I would do blood work, etc. Instead, my doctor had thought of another procedure he could try in the office to get a biopsy! Those biopsy results should be back by Wednesday, November 19. Pray that they will be. You'll see why this is so very important as you read on. I may still have to have the surgical biopsy on Thursday, November 20. I will not know for sure about that until the nurse calls me on Wednesday with the results from Monday's biopsy. So, I still need and appreciate your prayers. If I do have to have the hospital procedure, please pray that it can be done with no complications this time. Just like everyone who has to have a biopsy--a good, clear, benign report is something I'd like to have. I will let you know what I can as soon as I am told about if the surgery is on or off and what the biopsy report is from Monday &/or Thursday. Knowing that you are praying means so very much.

UPDATE WRITTEN ON 11-19-08:
Dr. Rahhal called me around 10:50 am on Thursday, November 19 and he did not have good news. The biopsy from Monday does show malignancy for endometrial cancer. This will involve a hysterectomy and removal of nodes. He is referring me to an ob/gyn/oncologist, Dr. D. Scott McMeekin; this doctor was in surgery this morning and Dr. Rahhal was unable to discuss my case with him. When Dr. Rahhal hears back from Dr. McMeekin I will be contacted again today and I will see the new doctor as soon as we can get an appointment. Dr. McMeekin’s office is over by University Hospital and that is where he usually does surgery, but sometimes he will come to Mercy and do surgery w/ Dr. Rahhal. For my Mom’s sake, would you pray that the surgery can be done at Mercy? She just could not drive back and forth to University Hospital by herself. Pray especially for her—Momma Faye—she is taking this very hard. (She was doing better this afternoon when I called to check on her. I have stayed at work as a way of coping.) Also, please pray that I could have surgery before the end of the year because that would help out financially. My insurance deductible is $1500 and I have already met that with all of these tests this autumn. If I have to wait until January, then the deductible starts over as you know. Okay—as my grandma Dovie used to say “Take life as it comes, not as you order it.” God is still in control and is faithful and good. I was able to tell Dr. Rahhal that Christians have hope beyond today and he agreed, so there's already been an opportunity to say a good word to someone about our marvelous God. Dr. Rahhal also said that if you’re going to have to have cancer that this is the kind to have because of the high cure rate. They will not be able to stage it until the actual surgery. Thanks for your prayer support and words of encouragement. Mom and I need them now more than ever. Please check up on Mom in person, by mail, or on the phone as often as you can.

The good news? I do not have to have the hospital biopsy on November 20.

Love & prayers to you and yours,
JFB

"The Crescent Red Socks"

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD.
"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
Isaiah 1:18 NIV

I grew up on a farm near Crescent, Oklahoma and when it rained, trying to walk through the red clay soil was similar to walking through a giant batch of rusty-red Play-dough with an unexpected ingredient of cement. The mud was so sticky that it could have been bottled and used for glue had it been white and a little less thick. It stuck to my pets, to the cows in the pasture, to our vehicles, to our shoes and boots, etc.

Growing up with this gummy substance provided many opportunities for me to be creative and inventive. My Mom and I formed some pottery-like dishes out of it so we could have a tea party with my dolls, using a new set of red “china.” In addition, I made numerous mud-pies to serve for dessert at the spontaneous tea parties.

Unfortunately, I never did find a successful way of arriving at the school-bus during an early-morning rainstorm without getting my shoes and socks muddied and stained. It was an extreme challenge to stay out of the red mud because there were limited numbers of grassy areas on which I could walk from our farmhouse to the end of the driveway in order to catch the mustard-yellow school-bus. Inevitably I had to step in the icky mud at some point before boarding the bus.

There were times when I got so bogged down in the gluey substance that I’d lose one of my shoes and not realize what had happened until I found myself walking onward with only one shoe. It was as if a hidden mud-monster suctioned the shoe from my foot and swallowed it for breakfast before I knew what was happening. No wonder I never had any white shoes nor socks when I was a child! They were always stained by mud the approximate color of rust due to the iron oxide in the soil.

In her attempts to make our “whites” whiter, I’m sure that my Mom used countless gallons of bleach during our years on the farm. No matter how hard she tried to get rid of that ugly reddish-brown stain in our clothing, there was always evidence that it was still there. Eventually there was nothing left to do but get a new pair of socks or shoes because the rusty stain was not removable.

Now-a-days T-shirts stained with red mud are trendy, expensive souvenir items in Oklahoma gift shops. This seems odd to me since I can go to our farm for no charge and drag a white T-shirt through the mud in order to stain it, but why would I want to? It seems like a waste of time and the ruin of a good T-shirt to me.

Even though activities and opportunities in our world may be popular and trendy like those ruddy souvenir T-shirts, oftentimes our choices regarding them result in having soul-staining sin embedded upon our souls. The stain of sin in our lives is far worse than the stain of red mud on my white socks and shoes as a child or on a T-shirt. Unless we ask God for forgiveness of sin in our lives, it is kept in our souls as a constant reminder of actions whose expensive price is not worth paying. It is like dragging our spiritual lives through the mud of sin and having the stains be approved as trendy or popular by the world, but why would we want to do that when the final cost is so much?

Sin does seem to have no price tag attached at the time, but in the end we pay with our very souls if forgiveness is not sought from God. Sin ultimately separates us from God for eternity unless we get together with Him to “reason it out” and to have Him “bleach” our scarlet sins away until our lives are clean–as purely white as freshly-fallen snow or the clean white wool on a brand-new lamb.

Sometimes we attempt to get rid of sin in our lives on our own, but no matter how hard we try to get rid of the ugly stain of sin in our souls, there will always be evidence that it is still there. Eventually we realize that there is nothing left for us to do but get a new life from God because the stain is not removable despite our best attempts. The only way to totally get rid of the sin in our souls is through God’s Son, Jesus–He is the only one that can accomplish this. Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

Dear God,
My whole life seems like it is just one big blob of sin that is sticking to me like red mud on white socks. I am bogged down with the guilt of sin and my very soul is stained with it. I know that I can do nothing to get sin out of my life on my own. I thank You that You want me to come and reason together with You so that my scarlet sins can be as white as snow. I am grateful that You sent Your very own Son, Jesus, to be the sacrificial Lamb to pay the price for my sin. I am glad that because of Jesus’ birth, death, burial and resurrection I can have my crimson-red sins forgiven and taken away so that my soul is as pure as You need it to be in order to spend eternity with You. Thank You for the new life I have in You.
In Jesus’ Name I pray,
Amen.

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© by Janet Faye Broyles 10-26-04 & 10-25-08 Edmond, Oklahoma
This devotional is protected by copyright laws and may not be reprinted or posted to a site without permission from Janet F. Broyles. All readers are welcome to forward the devotional to a friend or link to it. If you would like to seek permission to reprint the devotional in full, please leave a message for me here.
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