Here’s the link to all the Diamond’s Conference videos from this past weekend.
I was very encouraged by many of the speakers who offered so much hope from God’s word regarding illness. Isabella Morgenthal, and Esther Smith had many powerful and insightful thoughts regarding the grace of God amidst trials.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlnaBhNTHV2-9GtZUn6-h_K8YTRiEJe-Z
If you ever feel worthless then remember this truth; You were worth dying for.
Much love,
Viv🤗
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Last week was one of those weeks. Friday I pulled out my back muscles while trying to spray the mold on the ceiling with my nifty mold removing spray. I was craning my neck and I didn’t realize I hurt myself until minutes later when the pain hit.
At the chiropractor’s office she said my para spinal muscles were cranky and advised me to ice my back and rest.
The next morning my friend Emily texted from the ER. She had fallen and hit her forehead on the steel frame of her wheelchair causing a severe concussion. Her MRI came back ok and no bleed on her brain thank God!
We were talking last night about this set back for her and she said. “I thought I was on the right path. ” she had been pushing hard in therapy and it seemed like her body pushed back. Same with me. I had been pushing myself to try harder, do more, be super mom. My body pushed back.
I told Emily. ” You are on the right path these are just bumps in the road.”
Bumps in the road. It doesn’t mean we’re not on the right path. It just means we need to be more careful. Slow down. Stay alert. Listen to our silly, sorry excuses for bodies because if we don’t proceed with caution, the road will tip us into a ditch.
This bump in my road is not a set back. It’s a gift of learning. God is faithful in teaching me not to push myself because of impatience. He’s saying rest. My body and brain are under construction right now and if I don’t listen to the warning signs, it’s inevitable that this injury will continue to bump me back again.
So, while I have spent a better part of this week in bed, I’m doing exactly what I need to do. And that is rest.
Please pray for my friend Emily. She had a TBI from a massive brain stem stroke at the age of 28 and now just this week another TBI (concussion).
I could use some prayer in this area too. I have a type A personality and don’t really know how to pace myself. With TBI and a bad spine it’s a challenge to rest and be still.
But I must!
Much love,
Viv🤗🤕
She texted me at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday to tell me that her husband Todd had just saved her life.
My beautiful friend Emily has been a survivor of a massive brain stem stroke for nine years, a miracle, a fighter, and the sweetest, most caring person I’ve ever known.
Emily also has a choking issue and can’t be left alone while eating due to paralysis in her jaw which is a result of her stroke.
Tuesday, she was eating a cookie when it happened. A piece caught in her throat and completely blocked her airway. Her frantic husband was totally disoriented…..it hadn’t happened in so long! He panicked.
Em started seeing spots, her lips turned blue, it was scary. She said afterwards that she thought she would never breathe again. Then she saw black……
God interveined, as her husband persistently beat her on the back with his fists, out came the cookie, and in came air! (He later “lost it” she said, as he thought he was killing her.)
I cried when she told me.
Life IS so hard, but God IS so good!!!!
Later she told me she realised just how fragile our lives are.
It’s easy to take it for granted, I know I do. Even though Em and I are TBI survivors…….we can still forget how fragile life is.
As I rested in my chair Wednesday, the song by Pam Thum came into mind. Remember it?
Life is hard but God is good
You turn the key
Then close the door behind you
Drop your bags on the floor
You reach for the light
But there’s darkness deep inside
And you can’t take it anymore‘Cause sometimes living takes the life out of you
And sometimes living is all you can doLife is hard, the world is cold
We’re barely young and then we’re old
But every falling tear is always understood
Yes, life is hard, but God is goodYou start to cry
‘Cause you’ve been strong for so long
And that’s not how you feel
You try to pray
But there’s nothing left to say
So you just quietly kneelIn the silence of all that you face
God will give you His mercy and graceJesus never said
It was an easy road to travel
He only said that you would never be alone
So when your last thread of hope
Begins to come unraveled
Don’t give up, He walks beside you
On this journey home and He knowsLife is hard, the world is cold
We’re barely young and then we’re old
But every falling tear is always understood
Yes, life is hard, but God is good
I’m praising God for His intervention and His goodness to us each and every day. It’s because His mercies are new every morning we wake up with the sunshine streaming through the windows to remind us that He is so faithful and SO VERY GOOD.
Emily and her husband Todd married 2 years after her stroke.
Here is more of Emily’s triumphant story of survival and recovery explained:
https://www.tbionelove.com/single-post/TBI-One-Love-Survivor-Emily-Annis
