As Christians, most of us know the well-rehearsed verse "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,..." (James 1:2). But most of us don't really understand what it means to consider our trials a joy—especially when the reality of it finally sets in and takes us down a road we never meant to travel...if we let it.

I'm nearly seven weeks out from my latest surgery; the worst and most painful experience I can remember. And now, at last, the reality of it all is finally beginning to set in: nights with interrupted sleep, the confinement of a brace, the weakness I notice when I don't have it on, the fatigue...oh, the fatigue. Yes, it's all starting to become very old and very real, making the "joy" in this trial appear as if it's impossible to grasp. But God promises everything is not as they appear (2 Cor 4:16-18). So I look to Him and not to that which I can only see.

Refreshing. Comforting. Enlightening. I love God's word. Don't you?

Now, before I go on, let me make one thing clear lest anyone take this beautiful passage of Scripture and mutilate it with their own perverse thinking. God is most certainly not saying here that nothing "bad" (evil) will ever happen to you. No, read the rest of that sentence, "He will keep your life." Now that's quite a different thing than promising that all you days will be filled with nothing but happiness, health, wealth and ease. Far from it. It means so much more. The LORD of heaven and earth is promising that those who fear Him, have repented and trusted in the name of His one and only Son, will have their life hid and protected in Him and therefore will never be in danger or fear of the second death; which is eternal damnation in Hell; for their life is kept by God, with God and for God...alone.

Being a child of God means so much more than the false teachers of prosperity (i.e., Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, etc.) preach today. God's word promises that our lives are kept by Him. We are eternally His; it just doesn't get any better than that. There is no degree of health or wealth that trumps this promise: my life is hid in Christ (Psalm 27:5).

So when the reality of this trial set in, I began to grow quite weary of this surgery that has a nine month recovery period, countless limitations, added measures to keep my back safe, extreme fatigue, the brace, struggling with a self-pitying bad attitude, and a tired and wearied not-so-"sunny" disposition. As a matter of fact, I believe there are days I could change my name to "mildly cloudy with a chance of showers, so don't provoke me" or "severe weather ahead, take cover and don't come near". But even still, in the midst of the reality of this trial and the weariness of it all, I am grateful that my life is hid in Christ; my life is kept by God Almighty, and in due time, He will lift me up from this place and I will be healed (whether it be on this side of Heaven or not, I do not know, nor do I care).

I know all I need to know: though the waves of reality come crashing down on me, once I cry out to my glorious Savior, He always, immediately reaches out His hand and lifts me up to where He is; on steady footing and in His presence so I can see things the way He does: with eternity in view (Matt 14:30-33; Is 43:1-2).

This is not my home. This body is not my permanent body. These limitations are temporary. And one day, I will have a new, perfect body; one without sin. One day, I will see my Lord in His full glory. One day, I will be free from every trouble in this world and live the rest of my days in Heaven, with my God, my Savior. One day, I will be able to worship Him as He is due (1 Chron 16:29), and I will be able to do this faithfully without the constant interruptions of this flesh of sin.

One day, I'll be Home.

This is my prayer.

If you're reading this today and you realize you don't have the same assurance I have, please contact me. I'd love to share the love of Christ with you.

I am blessed because God is God and remains on the throne regardless of what my circumstances are or how I might feel about them from time to time.

I am in pain. I am "confined". I am limited by and to many things. But I am not crushed by them nor do they cause me to despair. Are there times I whine a bit here and there or wish for the pain and limitations to dissipate? Yes. But they do not cause me to question my heavenly Father for allowing such things in my life. Why? Because I already know the answer: we live in a fallen and broken world, and while we're here, we must live in our fallen, broken and mortal bodies.

This is my latest Get Well gift "basket". I put "basket"  in quotes because the basket was so large, it was on wheels and as you can see, some of this gifts couldn't even fit in the basket! My sweet and precious friend Leanne Holiman gave these to me yesterday. ♥

I never ask, "Why me, Lord?" because why shouldn't it be me? Am I better than others that painful trials should come to them and not me? Absolutely not.

God is sovereign. God is good. God loves me. That means regardless of my circumstances, all should always be well with my soul because Jesus Christ is its Master and nothing can change that (John 10:27-29). Now, does this mean I slap on a silly smile on my face and pretend I'm not in pain or from time to time, feel frustration from these eight years of physical trials and chronic illnesses? No. What it means is, in spite of feeling frustrated and annoyed at times, my spirit is always lifted higher, to the Lord my God, to my Christ who knows physical pain far greater than I or any human being can or ever will. And because I know this truth, I know my Lord Jesus knows how to care for me and comfort me as I need and not as I want or think I need.

In my time of need, when I'm tempted to sin against my Lord by questioning Him and moaning, groaning and complaining about my circumstances, I remember my Lord's words, that I can draw near with confidence and ask God for help every time I am tempted not to trust my Savior.

Here I am using the wonderful robe and foot jet massage spa from my sweet friend Leanne Holiman.

I'm sharing all this with you today, because though I'm still in much pain and I have a long road of recovery ahead of me, I'm grateful and know I am blessed. Because God loves us so intimately and cares for us so specifically and remembers our weaknesses (Ps 103:13-14), He blesses us with all that we could never imagine to ask for and much more than we could ever deserve.

Since my hospital admit and surgery, God has poured out His love to me through my loving and thoughtful husband and sons; my incredibly kind, gracious and generous Daddy and Mommy; and through my amazingly kind and loving friends both in "real" life and online. I've received countless cards full of love, prayers and compassion for me. I've received gifts, flowers, candy, gift certificates, meals, and friends who are willing to pick me up and take me to lunch or breakfast. I've received two large and generous gift baskets, one from my husband's office and another from a sweet and precious friend.

When we go through difficult and painful trials in our lives, God always makes even the painful more pleasant through the love of those in the body of Christ and many others He chooses to use to bless, encourage and care for His children.

I am blessed beyond measure and grateful to the uttermost for my Savior and His love and provisions for me during my short sojourn here in this fallen and broken world; in my broken and temporal body. And I look forward to the day that my body will be redeemed and I will have my eternal, unbroken and perfect body when I see I see my Savior face to face in Heaven!

While it’s true Joseph Kony is a vile and contemptuous man who’s illegal and inhumane activities must be stopped, it’s not wise for Christians to give anything beyond prayer to Invisible Children.

As Christians, we’re responsible for using the wisdom God gave us to appropriate our time, talents and finances only to that which promotes and aids the entire well-being of a person; offering tangible help (e.g. providing food, shelter, clothing, etc.) and spiritual restoration through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Invisible Children is a secular organization that not only misleads the public, but also promotes physical aid without eternal benefit.

Invisible Children (IC) was founded in 2004 and officially became a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in 2006. IC is located in San Diego, California started by three young filmmakers who traveled to Africa in search of an interesting and compelling story to share. Why they chose Africa and not somewhere here in the United States is not clear, but nonetheless, they traveled, and to their joy, a story was found—the tyranny of Joseph Kony.

Joseph Kony is a self-proclaimed prophet and leader of a band of rebels known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) who kidnapped, molested, raped, disfigured and murdered in order to grow their army and retain power. The LRA was formed in 1987 supposedly to fight against the Ugandan government’s perceived injustices upon the Acholi people and to establish and maintain a theocratic society based on the Ten Commandments. Disturbingly, Kony’s tactics vehemently oppose the Ten Commandments rather than keep them.

In IC’s “Kony 2012”, they imply that no one was doing anything until their organization came along. This is simply not true. In 2005, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant of arrest for Joseph Kony, prior to IC’s first film and plea for his arrest. In 2008, President George W. Bush signed a directive providing the Ugandan government with finances and 17 military advisers and analysts in order to capture and disassemble the Lord’s Resistance Army. Unfortunately, this was not a successful mission. However, through this effort, the members of the LRA were dispersed, their terror decreased and Joseph Kony was forced into hiding.

Other questionable activities are Invisible Children’s finances and how they’re allocated. Most of the money is used for salaries, media marketing and travel expenses. Despite what’s portrayed in the video, IC has done very little to actually help the Ugandan people from the devastation that was left by the LRA’s reign of terror.

The Better Business Bureau reports that though they have repeatedly made Wise Giving Alliance requests, Invisible Children has failed to respond.

As many of you know, I've had some particularly difficult health challenges these past eight years and though it's finally been discovered what I have, there is no cure and some of the damages done (years prior to diagnosis) are irreversible. One of the things that suffered was my lower back where I had one disc that was herniated and bulging, another just bulging and one slipped. This caused me to have severe back and leg pain for many years. But through it all, God has taught me much about perseverance and what it really means to trust Him and to give thanks to Him, in and for all things (1 Thess 5:16-18).

2 titanium rods and 8 screws view from the back