Anyone who has followed me on my blog for a while knows that I have a few health problems. Well, actually, maybe more than a few. But I am totally blessed that God has taken care of me and is continuing to watch over me. My attitude of gratitude did not come easily as I spent much time angry about my health conditions and my inability to change them as well as God’s silence on the matters. Then, in 2015, my stroke happened. It was a bad one, or so I was told. If it had not happened at school where I was closer to the hospital and where the school nurse could immediately diagnose me and get help, I would likely not have survived. Coincidence? No…God watching over me.

At the time of my stroke, I could not move any limbs on my right side and could barely stutter out an intelligible word. But what I could do is pray and pray, I did! In the ambulance, I was praying silently to the Lord. The paramedic asked me if I needed something because it seemed I was trying to speak. Well, I did need something (healing) but I wasn’t telling the paramedic. I was talking to God. My husband was late arriving at the hospital because the school nurse had trouble getting him to answer the phone, so I was all alone for a little while. And I prayed, as multiple health workers did their jobs all around me, buzzing about the fact that I was probably having a stroke. The end result was that my husband arrived, I had the option to get a clot-busting shot that could kill me (30% chance) or save my life. My husband called our daughter Hope and together we prayed that the shot would work. It did…but I’m here to tell you that the medication was injected into my body but the Lord did the healing.

I have just been through a series of medical tests and the doctors could not find anything seriously wrong with me except for a reaction to my medication. I feel in my heart and soul that I was healed…God used my symptoms of fainting, vision loss and dizziness to built my faith in Him as I trekked to one specialist after another. In the end, He spoke quietly to me that He had healed me because of His great love for me. Once again, God reached down and touched me, not because of who I am or what I have done but because of Who He is.

My response to God’s grace and mercy is praise and thanksgiving. I am thankful for each day that I get to spend here on earth with my family and friends. God is wonderful to me and abounds in blessings for me. Today, I get to travel again, this time to see my sister who had to move to NC because of her health conditions. If you knew me well, you would know that I dislike traveling. I like the comforts and familiarity of home and would never go anywhere if we did not have family at a distance. Nevertheless, I am blessed to be healthy enough to travel and to get to see my sister who celebrated her birthday this week.

Every day is a miracle. The sights I see around me are evidence of God’s working on the earth. Birds singing, rain falling, squirrels scampering around the bird feeders…all are wonderful signs of God’s creation that He cares for so well. And the best thing is that He has shared it with me to enjoy…and with you! Look around you. You may not see or be aware of God’s miracles, but they are everywhere. Every breath we take is a gift from God. Everything we see is a gift from God. All that we are able to hear is a gift from God. Thus, I have learned and I’m still learning to pray, believe and receive…then to be thankful that I am able to do all of these because of a great and marvelous God who loves me beyond all that I can imagine.