This website was created for the purpose of encouragement and understanding, sharing information with believers and non-believers alike. 

Most of us face hardships in our life but  you can either wither away and allow yourself to be overcome by your struggles and forget about God, OR you can draw nearer to GOD and trust in Him to help you through the struggles. The choice is yours. God is always there opening His loving arms to you and promised He would not abandon you.
We will always have changes in our lives, things we would rather not have experienced, but it's awesome to know we have a Heavenly Father to talk to and draw comfort from and know that He will not forsake us!

   Sometimes our challenges make us forget until the crisis is at hand, how vulnerable we really are to the elements of this world we live in.  Most often we don't have plans for the awful things life brings our way. 

   I can speak from personal experience of many challenges I have faced in my own life-time and tell you logical ways of getting through suffering and torments- just like the television talk show hosts get paid to do.  There are so many "popular" solutions provided to you by many sources, many you really should not put your trust in.

   Allow me tell you one thing that's for certain, there is no Better way, then through the path that has already been prepared for you by a loving savior named Jesus.
 For generations throughout history there has been a constant source to turn to. God spoke of His plans for ALL generations for ALL the inhabitants of the earth.  (read Book of Psalms 33) 

   The Lord is our helper, our shield. He has always been a constant answer to all our needs, just turn to Him and trust in Him. The Lord can direct your steps. He doesn't change according to most popular thinking or provide solutions that have a million dollar remedy.
He said  [I have plans for you. Thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil. To give you hope in your final outcome.]  (read Jeremiah 29).

My personal experience:

    I am a single mother of  a boy and a girl. Both raised in the same household, same rules, same beliefs, but with completely different personalities and choices what they do with each circumstance that comes before them.
We have had our own struggles like your average American single family. Whether through rebellion or ignorance or whatever the reasons, the final outcome always drew us back to only one conclusion, God knows best.

   My son graduated from high school the spring of 2005 , leaving  home immediately after graduation. He held a typical teen attitude feeling invincible and ready to take on the world.  I kept praying and lifting my son up to the Lord throughout the years and various situations. He was living life and having a fun time, with very little concern about what the elements of this world might bring upon him.
He was in an auto accident September 2005 on Labor day while working for a small business that shuttles privately owned vehicles along the river for river recreationalists. A front tire blew out on an unfamiliar vehicle he was driving and he lost control. When all was said and done, he ended up laying beside the over turned totaled vehicle, unconscious and body laying in a slump barely breathing what the medical personnel described as his last breath- had they arrived a few moments later he would not be alive today.
  
   Who knows what he was experiencing while in ICU during his coma, but as a mother I can tell you I remember every single moment. I had waited hours to hear when the medical team would transport him to the hospital from the accident scene.  It happened way out in the middle of nowhere land, far from any hospital. I was wondering what condition he was in, only told he was unstable and had suffered severe head injury. My imagination of course went wild to all the possibilities. All I could do during those moments was cry out in helplessness, feeling so many strong emotions. Every single day had new challenges and not knowing if he would pull through or not, doctors telling me that the first couple of minutes, then first couple of hours, then first couple of days would be most critical parts of this crisis. But even among all of that uncertainty  there was this inner, deeper feeling of complete assurance that our God knew what was going on and was preparing the steps for us to follow.Sounds a little strange I know but I had choices; I could choose to trust and believe in God's word or listen to the lies of the ever-present deceiver and become hopeless within.

   God said that whatever you believe in your heart with no doubts it will be done for you. Believe and trust with true confidence. [Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! And does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him. For this reason I am telling you whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you]  (read Mark 11:23)  

   I began to pray and I asked everybody I knew to pray, and even though I didn't know what the outcome was going to be I had assurance that God knew and God was going to see us through this crisis. God was making a way where there seemed to be no way. [Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. (read Philippians 4) .

   I had no idea what we would be up against in the following days, weeks, months or even years to follow. My faith and trust is in Him and continues to be the strength that I rely upon. God never promised us an easy life here and if you really think about it, most of our struggles are man-caused.

   There were  moments they told me he was going to die, a moment when the lead doctor came to me and told me to "make necessary arrangements. "  We were given a very hopeless scenario of my son's future care, should he survive, we might have to take him out of state for additional help, but they might not accept him as a patient if he doesn't respond more then he was doing. It went on and on, day by day. Throughout the weeks  of  being in ICU while my son was in a coma we had strangers drawn to us because of our unity in prayer, and doctors and nurses telling us later on how amazing and "miraculous" it was to see the "unexpected" healing occurring in my son throughout this time.
I somehow knew who was in control and I knew God was healing my son and I held onto that faith.   

   Well the weeks of therapy after ICU brought about a lot of stages in the healing of his brain, going through things that I would rather not talk about on here, but what occurred were things that I was not prepared for. I had moments wondering is this the stage he will be stuck in forever? Is this the worse thing or is there even worse yet to come, etc . but I still had the knowledge that I would draw my strength on the Lord, and He would see us through all of this.  

   Waking from the coma my son had to re-learn to eat, swallow, walk, talk, in fact every function that we take for granted each day, he had to re-learn and retrain while his brain was healing. Has it been difficult?  Yes!!!  Were we ever promised an easy life?  NO!!! As God is my witness, I can say my faith has increased and my heart is filled with thanksgiving and joy. I could have picked to blame God for everything and despise the hardship we endure but I choose to see the good that occurred, the healing of a mother/son relationship that went bad during his high school years, the prayer in my heart  asking that the Lord touch my son ..... on-going changes have been incredible. 

 

   He has finished with all the immediate rehabilitation programs. He is learning to live as independent as he can trying to overcome various challenges along the way. He has gone from being completely paralyzed and non-responsive in ICU, to  learning to transport himself into a wheelchair from the bed, to standing out of the wheelchair and eventually walking with a walker, to more steps going from the walker to a cane and now walking with no assistance at all. Praise God. Some physical challenges are evident , he cannot do some activities he used to be able to do, but he has come a far distance from what the doctors initially anticipated.

    He is not the same person anymore and says he is sorry for past things. He has struggles mentally and emotionally dealing with daily situations. He has said that he is glad for what has happened to him that things will be different from now on because he sees life in a whole different view. Some simpler cognitive  functions of his brain are a struggle for him and there are moments when he gets physically or emotionally exhausted and confused over what a normal person deals with in daily life choices and decision. He is permanently disabled and unable to relate to others in his age group but he finds ways to compensate for it.

 

Be blessed and be a blessing.
RC

God loves us so much He gave His only begotten son that whosoever would trust and believe in Him would have everlasting life. Thank You Jesus!

Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you are good,
O LORD .

For you have been my hope,
O Sovereign LORD , my confidence

 
 All I have seen teaches me to trust God for all I have not seen.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

~*~*~* HAVE  FAITH  and BELIEVE! *~*~*~

In Memory Of            My dad was a hard working man, raised in the Montana mountains. He started working at a very young age, a son in a very large family. He met my mom, a city girl  in her teens and they eventually got married. It was obvious to everybody the love my parents had for one another. There were hard times and various struggles like most people. He was a well respected member of the military working his way up to senior master sergeant of the Army National Guards airplane mechanics.        We lived most of our youth on a small farm with my parents hoping to raise their own food and crop, to raise us 6 kids, and we all pitched in doing the chores necessary to keep the farm going. I remember dad having to work more then one job at times, just to make ends meet. During all those years my favorite memories were when I was a little girl watching my dad shave, I loved it! I was the only girl of 6 kids.        He took us camping when he could and had all 6 of us kids lined up along the mountain streams fishing, running back and forth trying to help keep our worms on the hooks and get  our snags undone. He taught us all to hunt safely, hunting big game which was meat we lived on throughout the year. We learned to respect the mountains, the animals, eachother. Mom had alot to do with raising us too don't get me wrong, she was a city girl that learned hard labor on the farm doing the chores many women would never be caught doing, out of necessity.  I don't remember ever hearing her complain!        Dad was a strong, big man, who didn't show alot of emotions, but when something touched him enough to form a tear in his eyes you knew he was feeling it.  Watching his health deteriate in his last years was probably the hardest thing I ever experienced personally.  The final days of his life were very difficult to deal with. To this day I feel like he is just gone on a trip, that I will see him soon. I miss him. Blessings. RC

Before I Go   When my life has reached its very end,  And I take that final breath; I want to know I've left behind,  Some "good" before my death.   I hope that in my final hour,  In all honesty I can say: That somewhere in my lifetime, I have brightened someone's day.   That maybe I have brought a smile To someone else's face,  And made one moment a little sweeter While they dwelled here in this place.   Lord, please be my reminder And whisper softly in my ear, To be a "giver," not a "taker," In the years I have left here.   Give to me the strength I need, Open up my mind and my soul That I might show sincere compassion,  And love to others before I go.   For if not a heart be touched by me,  And not a smile was left behind .. Then the life that I am blessed with,  Will have been a waste of time.   With all my heart, I truly hope  To leave something here on earth .. That touched another, made them smile  And gave to my life ...  worth. ~ Author Unknown ~