Voyage of the Dawn Treader

I have a love affair with young adult literature. I have read all the Harry Potters, all the Chronicles of Narnia, the Twilight saga, and too many Newberry Award winners to count.

My dear friend Amy D. is the daughter of an Alabama award winning middle school teacher. We usually ask her for summer reading lists and new titles when we’ve hit a slump or are still waiting for the hope that one more Harry Potter book will come out.

I remember being in Barnes and Noble one night with Mrs. D. and she asked me, “What book did you read as I child that brought reading to life?” It took me 2.1 seconds to respond, “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.”

Narnia is the place where reading came alive to me. Narnia is the reason I want a walk-in closet. Narnia is the reason I still think Kitty Lynn can talk. Narnia is the reason I visualize Christ as a majestic, powerful and loving lion. And ultimately, Narnia is the reason I grow as a Christian by learning life lessons in a world of make believe.

One of my favorite books of the series is “Voyage of the Dawn Treader.” If you haven’t read it, please do yourself a favor and go to the library, bookstore, or amazon.com and pick up a copy. Hurry before it’s a movie! (You have time it doesn’t come out until December 2010)

In the story there is a sour little boy named, Eustace Scrubb. He is really quite the annoyance and very unkind. He is selfish, always wanting to control things, boastful and constantly complaining. (I realize that I have just described my own self the more I type, which is why I absolutely love this story). One day, while they have stopped on an island during their voyage, Eustace stumbles into a dragon liar filled with treasure. His own greed causes him to actually turn into a dragon. I won’t go into detail but his sinful nature has become personified in the actual form of a dragon.

For six days he wanders the island in the form of a dragon. He is miserable. However, he slowly changes his heart and begins to help the others-once they know its Eustace and not an actual dragon. He catches food, warms his friends on cold nights and flies them around the island.

Finally Aslan appears and tells Eustace to follow him. He tells Eustace to “scrubb” off the dragon scales and get in the water. Eustace does this 3 times but each time the scales grow back. Finally Aslan must claw and tear the scales off for him. This piercing hurts Eustace but finally he is a boy again. Glowing, shiny and new.


Have you figured out the allegory yet? Have I figured it out, is the better question? I have to finally let go of my selfishness, control, anger, sin and allow God to claw away at my sin and wash me so I can become whole again. What a beautiful image of our Savior. He is a lion tearing away our dirty scales to reveal the glowing beauty that is hidden beneath. It is him and him alone that can reveal our true glory.

This has been a constant lesson for me these past few weeks. All things control and surrender related. I think the first time I read that story again as an adult I began crying, knowing all too well that I was the dragon. Luckily, my own Savior will tear away those scales-only if I let go and let Him.

An update on My Mom-She has actual physical pain to deal with though in the meantime. Her right hand received a good report yesterday at the doctor. He said to continue wearing those splints to stretch out the tendons in her 3 fingers. The doctor did see some progress and we now have the official order for Mom to begin outpatient therapy. Thank you for the prayers and your continued support of our family. I can’t wait till Mom’s accident related “scales” are finally washed away and she is her old/new self!

Ephesians 4:20-24 (New International Version)
20You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Insurance vs. Assurance

I am sure I am not the only one has typed out a post complaining about the headaches of insurance. On Friday my Mom received a call from her OT Therapist that she no longer is allowed to come out to the house for therapy. It has been close to six months and therefore insurance no longer will cover in home therapy. I guess in six months my mom should be able to drive herself to outpatient therapy?

Not quite...

It then makes you question the role of insurance. What if you had the assurance that no matter what medical expenses you encountered it would be covered? That you didn't have to worry about finding a loophole or convincing someone you deserved the needed medical services...that it would be covered no questions asked.

Thank goodness our salvation is not like insurance but rather is assurance. That no matter what you do, or don't do, no matter what your "pre-existing" conditions are, Christ's blood is your payment into eternity. He has already paid all the cost for you and you luckily have the assurance that you are now allowed to live an abundant life beyond the grave.

I know we were at a loss and a bit discouraged on Friday when we heard the insurance news and weren't quite sure as to what the next steps were to take in this recovery process. Well the body of Christ has once again stepped up to the plate and blown me away by their humility, gentleness and patience with my family. Members of my parent's Sunday school class said they will help take my Mom to and from her house to therapy during the week. We didn't even have to really spend time worrying about this issue. We had assurance that we were taken care of despite what our insurance company was telling us.

Like a good neighbor...You're in good hands...slogans for insurance companies and yet these can also be slogans for the body of Christ I am so unworthy to be a part of. When I went home at Easter, my parent's pastor preached about how he wanted First Baptist of Covington to be a church people knew about because of the actions of the congregation.

Well I am one grateful daughter in Birmingham, AL that surely knows about this church. I have been amazed time and time again at the outreach to my parents. My parents had only been going to FBC for about 10 months before the accident happened and it was if we, as a family, had been there for our whole lives the way we have been treated. Food, phone calls, errands, more food, cards, even more food and now someone offering to take my Mom to therapy.

What a beautiful picture of the church. Paul talked about just this in Eph 4:1-6
Ephesians 4:1-6 (New International Version)

Ephesians 4
Unity in the Body of Christ
1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

I think our assurance is found in the last part of verse six-who is over all and through all and in all. God is never out of the loop, He is always in control.

I am so honored to share the same God, Lord and faith with the members of FBC and how they have reached out and loved on us and carried the Adams family's burdens. I am humbled at their gentleness and patience and motivated and inspired by the love they have shown us to continue to spread that unity among my own family of faith locally.

Sunshower

So as I have posted before my life seems to mirror the weather. We have had a sudden patch of storms roll through Birmingham lately. The weeks will be day after day of sunshine and then our weekends are rainy and dreary. This past Friday I experienced both-I was driving in bright sunlight and it was raining, almost pouring with not a cloud in sight.

I feel like the past few weeks I haven’t felt the urge to post much. Of course if anything is happening with my parents progress I want to post and tell you all about it but the fountain of what God was teaching me hasn’t felt to be overflowing quite like it was around 5 months ago when this crisis struck.

Maybe nothing is going on? Maybe God isn’t teaching me anything? Maybe this is the end of the blog until Mom is fully restored. No, not quite. Everything is going on, God is constantly teaching me things and I feel like I was called to continue this blog for reasons unbeknownst to me.

I think what’s going on here is that my spiritual life is experiencing a bit of a sunshower. Have you ever been in a sunshower? That’s where I feel like I am right now. Around me good things are happening. I still have my job in an economic crisis, my parents are healing, my friends are supportive and I have a great relationship with Blake that is headed in a wonderful direction…BUT I am not happy. I say happy as opposed to joyful-I’ll get to that later.

I just feel like even though I am covered over in good things it’s rainy inside. I couldn’t place my finger on it. Was something wrong at work, was I mad at a friend, am I still dealing with the post-traumatic stress of my parent’s accident? No, quite frankly, I wasn’t in the word. I wasn’t reading God’s word daily. I wasn’t relying on his strength to pull me through each day-sunny or rainy.

It finally hit me that despite my sunshower God is still present in my life and can offer me an eternal joy. I can be joyful even if internally I feel a bit down or dreary. As a matter of fact, often times the best part of a sunshower is that a rainbow will appear. That joy will spring out of your passing shower. That a promise offered by God that he will never leave us or forsake us is written in the sky.

Genesis 9:12-15 (New International Version)
12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.

Prayer Request

Quick prayer request. My mom fell yesterday at the house. She stood up too quickly and because of the neck surgery she sometimes get lightheaded. Needless to say, she became very dizzy and felt like she was about to faint and started to fall backwards. She ended up falling on her bottom and her left side of her shoulder and head. She is okay but I think it scared her and shook her up a good bit. She was by herself so it was a little harder to also get back on two feet once she went down.

Please pray that there was no damage done to the c3-c6 area of her neck where the operation took place. Pray that her left arm did not have any set backs and that she will wake up today with the same range of motion she had yesterday. Pray that she will not be in a lot of pain from the actual impact to the rest of her body. Please also pray for safety when she is by herself at the house.

Thank you for your prayers and thoughts!

Psalm 118:13-14 (New International Version)

13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the LORD helped me.

14 The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.

Happy Mother's Day

So if my Mom reads this before Mother's Day then she will be surprised because this blog entry is all about her today. I wanted to get her a special gift this year. I always try to get a gift that I know she will love but this year is more special of course simply because despite her pain and trauma these past 5 months she has still been my Mom. I decided to buy her a Willow Tree figurine. Mom has several already but when I saw this I knew right away it was made just for my Mom. Her name is Courage- and her tag line reads:Bringing a triumphant spirit, inspiration and courage.

That is my Mom!



They look a like I think. Maybe not right now but someday soon Mom will stand with both arms outstretched and overhead triumphantly towards our Maker praising him for total restoration. She has definitely been an inspiration to me and shown such courage through this whole ordeal.

Maybe she was in a morphine induced haze but I remember clearly some of the things she told me when she was in the NCCU back in December. I was just sobbing away because I knew I had to leave and drive back to Birmingham that night and she said, "I know it looks bad. Don't cry. I'll be okay." It was so motherly. Here she was on a bed unable to move her arms and neck hooked up to many machines and had morphine pumping through her veins to control the pain and she said the same things she said to me as a little girl, " I know your scraped knee looks bad. Don't cry. You'll be okay."

Even now when she is at home by herself all day still in pain or restrained because of her limited mobility she still listens to me. I remember calling her about a month and half ago when I felt really sick and all I could do was cry and she listened and said, "I know you feel bad. It's okay to cry and let it out but you'll get better." I couldn't believe she was the one telling me I'd be okay. She still couldn't move her left arm and had a cast on her right arm and she wasn't complaining. No she simply empathized with the pain and nurtured me as if I were 5 years old again and figuratively lifted me up in her arms over the phone.

My Mom is a strong woman. I forget this sometimes but then I think about all she has already been through before this accident. All the surgeries for her neck and jaw, all the pain with other physical ailments and emotional heartache and here she is with yet another obstacle. Only a few times has she broken down and cried because of the pain or discomfort. Only a few times has she said she was tired of being sick or at stuck at home. But more often than not when I call her everyday after work she is happy and her bubbly self. Full of life and energy and pleased to be talking to her little girl. She is definitely one of the strongest women I know.

I love you Mom! Happy Mother's Day

Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

Right Hand

I have a few prayer requests today before I get started posting. Specifically right now Blake is in the middle of his US Medical Exams-part I (aka the boards). It is a 7 hour test covering his first two years of med school. He is taking it in Mobile, AL and went in around 9am to begin. I won't hear from him until he is done. Keep him in your prayers if you happen to read my blog today. If you are reading and it's after the fact-pray for the results! He gets them probably in about a month or so.

My Mom has an update on her progress that I wanted to share with all of you. Please keep these as major prayer requests as we head into what is almost 6 months from the accident. She went to see her neurosurgeon last week who said that her healing is coming along nicely. She currently can bend her left arm at the elbow but not raise it above her head. Continue to request this in prayer. We know it will come back but we need to really cover that arm in prayer. Time is definitely all it will take but I would love for her to be able to move it more freely before the end of summer!

She also went to see the orthopedic last week for her right hand/wrist. Her wrist has healed perfectly but her fingers however are not doing as good. She continues to struggle on stretching those 3 fingers (middle finger, ring finger and pinky) out properly. She will have to wear a splint for an hour a day for each finger in order to get those little digits to work properly.

So this got me thinking how often just the right hand is mentioned in the Bible. If you have ever felt like the Bible isn't life applicable, think again. I did a search on biblegateway.com and found 136 verses that pertained to the right hand!


This one is my favorite and it will be my verse, my battle cry and my song to God for my Mom's continued healing.
Psalm 16:8 (New International Version)

8 I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.

How can we even be scared when the creator of the world and my entire being is at our right hand? Even if that right hand may be a bit crippled at this moment he is still there guarding us and protecting us.

How can we be alone or fearful when he is there with us at the very place of our pain?
Psalm 73:23 (New International Version)

23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.

How can we be worried when he stands ready to crush those that persecute us?

Psalm 110:5 (New International Version)

5 The Lord is at your right hand;
he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.

And although I know this verse is personifying wisdom I like to think it is also a verse just for my Mom right now and is a promise to her complete and total healing!

Proverbs 3:16 (New International Version)

16 Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.

1:35:15...

That was my time in the Statue to Statue 15k on Saturday. I ran from the Vulcan Statue in Southside to the Miss Liberty Statue in Liberty Park. I feel pretty good about my time actually. This was clearly, like the t-shirt says,"The South's Toughest 15K." It's never good when the shirt brags about it being hard. I walked up two hills, which I think should actually be labeled black diamonds. I have never walked in a race so this was a first but I have also never ran a course that proudly boasts of being one of the toughest courses in a region!

I wish I could say that I had some sort of spiritual enlightenment while running the race or that I found a deeper meaning while my hips and knees pounded as my feet hit the pavement. No, all I know is that I was incredibly glad it was over. I was so happy it was over I didn't even see my friend Amy and Blake standing at the finish line aptly holding their own sign in honor of Miss Liberty-Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses...

I feel good though! I have accomplished a major goal. I will definitely go and put on that t-shirt today when I run the flattest 3 mile course in town!

Now in retrospect I can pull some life applications to the course. The race was pretty bare bones-no timing chips, no large crowds, no fancy finish line. It was just a group of people out for an early morning run. There were many a hill to climb. Run, walk, crawl whatever form of transportation you decided on worked in this situation because there was no other way to get over the mountain. Once we tackled the two major hills on mile 6 and 7 it was pretty much down hill the rest of the race.

Life is very similar to this course. There isn't anything fancy about it. No one cheering you on every single second/mile of the day. Just a group of people wanting to get the most out of their day to day. There are hills to climb. We can chose to walk, run and/or crawl over our metaphorical mountains and often times I have done all three options. Yet once we accomplish a goal we can go flying downhill into the finish line.

The race would not be the same however if there wasn't someone leading us onward. Luckily, someone knew the course b/c I had no clue where I was. There is a leader who takes us over the hurdles, who tells us which way to turn, who does show up and yell, "Ladies this is your last hill! You are almost there."

I think fortunately for us we have Jesus there with us even when it feels like you are left all alone on the course. My Mom has some uphill battles to climb this spring. Her fingers on her right hand are not working properly. They still feel like a claw and curl in. She is walking up this "hill" right now and trying her hardest to reach the peak so she can scale down the other side to mobility. Her left arm bends at the elbow but she is still unable to raise it over head.

Please continue praying for us as we face this hill as a family. I know the other side is a promising downhill run to Miss Liberty but we just need to reach the top. We aren't there yet and it does feel like each day it gets a little steeper. Luckily, we can look over our shoulder and see how far up we have already climbed.

Thank you for your prayers

1 Corinthians 9:24-28 (New International Version)

24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.