Monthly Archives: February 2007

The Gremlin’s got a fever now. The Imp is coughing but no fever.

***Update…the Gremlin is throwing up and not keeping his meds down, to keep his fever down. He is one miserable little guy and currently passed out on the couch. I’m supposed to be stripping beds to swap out his top bunk for the Sarge’s bottom bunk (it is a few steps closer to the bathroom and hurling from elevated places should be avoided at all costs)……..but…….Mommy is starting to show signs of wear, itchy throat, aches, and that flushed but clammy feeling. Sigh, this is me motivating before the next wave hits.

The Praises
The Sarge has been fever-free for the first time in 6 days! He is back to being ornery with his siblings too, so I know he is feeling MUCH better. The Lord is good!

The doctor told me I won’t need to have surgery on my foot. It is inflamed, but not showing a break or chip. Aleve takes the edge off enough to get around as I need. Losing weight can only help too.

The doctor also found that my thyroid levels are off again. Once we get those leveled out, my efforts at diet and exercise should produce at least SOME results. I am so happy….I’ve been feeling like it was just me being a failure!

A funny
The doctor was amazed that I hadn’t noticed and come in earlier, “Weren’t you feeling tired all the time!?” “Uh, I have 3 children. Isn’t that just the new level of normal…..a little more tired with each child? It’s a good tired….but just a deeper state of tired.” She just looked at me funny.

A Prayer Request
The Gremlin flopped on the floor at 2pm today and wailed that his head was going to explode and he felt awful. Guess we won’t be catching our breath between sickies this time round.

2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Yesterday, what was an occasional cough to clear his throat, became a body racking, deep cough, complete with constantly running nose and sneezing. I’m not sure if he’s allergic to his meds from the doctor, or if this is just the next phase. His temperature is spiking and dropping now too. One hour he will be in shorts and hot, the next hour he will be bundled up like an Eskimo and shivering! He didn’t move much yesterday, just laid around most of the day reading or napping.

He slept better last night. He said he woke up once with the beginning of the repetitive nightmare and he prayed and laid it at God’s feet. All the bad images stopped and didn’t bother him the rest of the night. He was very excited that he was able to stop them with his own prayers. God is growing shoots of faith amidst crazy, feverish nights! (I am grateful that my mom used EVERY situation when I was small, to point me back to God in some way. What a blessing that is as an adult, for me to be able to see God’s hand at work and to pass that on to my children.)

Today he still has the fever and chills. The coughing and drainage are about the same. He perked up a little and was actually hungry this morning, but now he’s back on the couch again. Time for cuddles!

Our night was a little better, he only got loopy once. He’s been having very disturbing nightmares/hallucinations because of his fever. This makes him fear going to sleep, which is compounding his problem. He woke up with another nightmare and we prayed together and I told him I had been praying for him all day. He really wanted me to pray out loud, over him. I did this, and was able to share a Bible insight I had been thinking a lot about recently… it’s about being sheep. Christ calls us to follow Him, the shepherd…. period. The sheep rest at night despite the sounds of wolves in the distance, because they know the shepherd is near. The sheep don’t ponder where they will be in 10 years, or if there will be good grazing tomorrow. Their one thought is to stay near the Shepherd because He loves them and sees to their needs and safety. If we truly believe that God is who He says He is in the Bible, we should be able to lay everything at His feet and trust that good or bad, God knows what we need. While trials are not fun, the Shepherd is training us through them to listen to His voice and to trust that He can see the whole picture, not just the knee-high view of the sheep. This seemed to make sense to the Sarge. He prayed and laid all the bad dreams and images at the Shepherd’s feet and slept peacefully for the rest of the night. Praise God!

The Sarge was up and down most of the night. When his fever spiked to 103.9 he started to get all loopy. He spoke incoherently and was in a highly agitated state off and on. We were able to calm him and bring his fever down, but he drifted in and out of being lucid. (This weird behavior isn’t entirely foreign, my brother used to get goofy with low grade fevers and do bizarre things like try to pick the flower patterns off of the sheets and wander through the house mesmerized by door knobs.) None of us got much sleep. I sat with him and prayed over him until he drifted back to sleep. This morning he is a little better. He still had the fever but he is not speaking in gibberish, complaining that the room is changing shape, or that he hears mumbling voices in his ears. He is exhausted but God allowed him to get a few hours of peaceful sleep. Our prayers are for a better night and that the doctor’s medicine will help his body fight off whatever is causing the fever.

It’s official, we’ve been noticed! A few days ago our neighbor was telling me about a little boy down the street. He doesn’t seem to fit in at school because his parents are protective about whom he plays with. They don’t care for the boys his own age because they use foul language and are very crude, so he tends to play with children younger than himself or with girls. Our neighbor got all excited and told the boy’s parents about our family. (home schooling, religious, and conservative!) She said she thought of us because we are so conservative and…….uh…….peculiar about our children’s behavior and playmates. I assumed that was a good thing and offered to meet the boy and his mom sometime.

I mentioned to my husband that we have been noticed and discussed among the neighbors AGAIN. He was amused and told me that someone at work called him a Quaker the other day. Now THAT is really funny!

Divorce and remarriage most often spark debate and strong feelings in Christian circles. We want to love and support family, but the circumstances surrounding many marriages are clearly going against Scriptures. Should we attend the function to show God’s love and maintain the relationship, or do we abstain because it is more important to to stand for what’s right? Regardless of what you choose, you won’t please everybody. As a Christian, our first point of concern should be with honoring God. Let’s seek out what God has to say on the matter, so that we can give a response for our decision and be consistent in future circumstances.

The whole divorce issue is not as complicated as one would think. God hates it. He designed marriage to be a blessing and precious thing between a man and woman, both for companionship, pleasure, and procreation.

Matthew 19:3-6 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” 4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Matthew 19:8-9 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

Mark 10:9-12 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” 10 In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. 11 So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

1 Corinthians 7:10-11 Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. 11 But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.

These verses have clearly established that divorce is not acceptable except in the case of adultery. The passage also outlines the parameters of which individuals are not even available for remarriage. With this information, we move on to things like attending weddings of non believers, or second weddings for divorced Christians. We must base our response only on God’s Word. Substituting cultural mores does not make sin acceptable. Society changes but God does not.

When trying to decide how to respond to invitations, we first need to look at the couple getting married and determine if they are both Christians. This determines the way we are to respond to their request.

1 Corinthians 5:11-12 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner–not even to eat with such a person. 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?

This whole chapter should be read for context and clarification. This is the summation; If another Christian has made the choice to habitually sin, we should not hang out with them! The chapter also explains that we should not hold non-believers to the same standard since they are of the world. But what if one individual is a Christian and the other is not, where is the line then?

2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

God makes it clear that the Christian has no business marrying the unsaved. The wedding should not happen. God does not condone “showing His love” by missionary dating and marriages. Rather than attend the wedding, we should use the steps to lovingly admonish the believer to stop pursuing what is forbidden as outlined in Matthew 18.

Matthew 18:15-17 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

Proverbs 9:8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

Loving correction, even practiced as instructed, will not always be well received. If you have gone to them lovingly and they have hardened their heart toward Truth, it becomes an issue between them and God. Your part is finished and you are instructed to distance yourself with civility and lay the matter before God. “But isn’t it better to restore the relationship, than to be right?”

Proverbs 24:23-25 These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment. 24 He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him: 25 But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.

Going along with something even though it is wrong implicates us into their sin. We become hypocritical and untrustworthy, damaging our testimony for Christ before others. Why should the world seek Christ when the Christians are just as duplicitous as the unsaved? We were called to live set apart, living in the midst of sin, but choosing to behave differently.

“But aren’t Christians are to show compassion and not pass judgment.” Compassion for another Christian is to have them turn away from anything that keeps them from God’s will and damages their testimony for Christ before others. Judgment of non-Christians belongs to God, but believers are instructed to hold each other accountable and to seek to restore our church members when they are off track.

Proverbs 27:5-6 Open rebuke is better than secret love. 6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

James 5:19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Malachi 2:8-9 But you have departed from the way; You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” Says the Lord of hosts. 9″Therefore I also have made you contemptible and base Before all the people, Because you have not kept My ways But have shown partiality in the law.”

Seeking to keep the peace and favor of someone claiming to be a Christian but choosing to openly sin, is not supported by the Bible. Yes, we are instructed to be loving, but loving does not mean supporting bad choices to build up a false sense of self esteem. Rather, we are to beseech the person to abandon their path toward sin. If the person then chooses to go ahead and in sin anyway, you will not be a part of their sin. After the marriage, our responsibility is to behave with civility toward the couple, avoid interactions which would influence us to sin, and leave it with God.