I can’t walk very fast, but I’ve managed to catch one of the bugs that has come around recently. It made me weak enough that putting my prepared meal on the table and crawling into bed seem like a real ordeal. My daughter and caregivers helped me do the things I typically do.

After two trips to the doctor I felt good enough to be on my own again. That night as I got ready to brush my teeth, I glanced at the cough syrup my caregiver had poured for me and left by the sink.

When Miss Priss, my cat, sauntered around the vanity I heard God whisper, “Move the cough syrup”.
Since I was going to take it in a few minutes, I decided to wait. But that delay gave Miss Priss just enough time to spill it all over everywhere.

As I tried to clean it up, I got a text message I wanted to answer right away. But my phone slipped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud. Because of my cerebral palsy, I can’t just bend over and pick it up. I have figured out ways to use my feet to make them high enough so I can use my hand to get objects. Tonight would be a little trickier because it had fallen too far from my chair. Now what was I going to do?

While I started to push the phone toward my chair, I pictured hockey players practicing. I was also kicking a Kleenex box over to the chair with the intention of putting the phone in it and lifting the box up to get my phone. That’s when I glanced at the brown grocery bag that was right there and I kicked the phone into the bag, scoring the winning goal!

How have you been able to solve a problem and still keep your joy?

It’s hard to fathom that summer is over. I hope that everyone had an opportunity to break from their daily routines and explore new things.

While I was at the Oregon Christian Writers Conference, I took a class called “Wanna Play?” The purpose of the coaching class was to help us become more creative. One day the teacher gave each us photos of artwork and told us to write about the picture we selected. Glancing at it for the first time, my mind went blank My response was “Oh dear,” but then it became fun as my eyes focused on one area of the picture after another.

As I wrote about what I saw, I was surprised at how the story developed. Several of us chose the same picture. Since all of us had different backgrounds, each of our stories were different.

We often focus in the events of the day. After several years of good to school each day hundreds of kids celebrated their graduation. In September, as those graduates take their next step in life,
pictures of their big day become less important as the focus of their lives changes.

Sometimes we can let day to day experiene deeply upset us and blind to us the good things in our lives. We can either let these events affect us, all our lives or we can let God heal our pain as He helps us see the bigger through His eyes.

Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

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