Lion and Lambs

I know that this is all over the internet, and it originated here, but I am so moved every time I read it that I wanted to include it here. I want to share God’s incredible, unconditional love with all my readers, especially those whose father was not a dad and did not love us the way we hoped a daddy would. We do have a daddy (ABBA) who loves us immensely. The words below are truth, they are comforting and encouraging. I have made it a goal to memorize this, and as I do let it sink deep within my spirit. When that happens, I will be able to believe what I think!

Father’s Love Letter

My Child ~

You may not know me, but I know everything about you ~ Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up ~ Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways ~ Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered ~ Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image ~ Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being ~ Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring ~ Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived ~ Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation ~ Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book ~ Psalm 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live ~ Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made ~ Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother’s womb ~ Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born ~ Psalm 71:6
I have been misrepresented by those who don’t know me ~ John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love ~ 1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you ~ 1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child and I am your father ~ 1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could ~ Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father ~ Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand ~ James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs ~ Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope ~ Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love ~ Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore ~ Psalm 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing ~ Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you ~ Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession ~ Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul ~ Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things ~ Jeremiah 33:3
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me ~ Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart ~ Psalm 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires ~ Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine ~ Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles ~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you ~ Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart ~ Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes ~ Revelation 21:3-4
And I’ll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth ~ Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus ~ John 17:23
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed ~ John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being ~ Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you ~ Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins ~ 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled ~ 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you ~ 1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love ~ Romans 8:31-32
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me ~ 1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again ~ Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen ~ Luke 15:7
I have always been Father, and will always be Father ~ Ephesians 3:14-15
My question is ~ Will you be my child? ~ John 1:12-13
I am waiting for you ~ Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad, Almighty God

At the website, Father’s Love Letter, you can watch a music video or listen to the letter read by a very soothing voice. There is also much more information on their site.

My sister was very kind in sharing her page of images with me so that I could post them on my blog also. As our personalities are different, there are emoticons there that I will probably never use. One that I thought gross, and was sure I would never use, I was going to delete until I found out that we are sharing the list. So now I have figured out a way to kill two birds with one stone. I can use the emoticon and cure migraine disease:

Update: This morning I found this blog that had an astounding description of life with migraine. Here is one quote:

Every migraineur understands exactly why decapitation would be a relief.

I have been wanting to post this for awhile, but I am technologically challenged and have been having trouble getting the picture small enough for the blog. Thanks to flickr, here it is.

I mentioned that my oldest son took me to Sedona for my birthday and Christmas present. His sweet girlfriend, whom I am becoming attached to, accompanied us. She had this great ring which I have always admired. I really love it because it is so unique. Since she got it at Venice Beach, the chance of me finding one was pretty slim. Then when we were at dinner she just gave it to me. Every time I look down at it, it gives me a smile and a warm feeling as I remember her incredible kindness.

from the great cartoonist Maxine…

My mother gave me the book, 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper, over a year ago. I never picked it up because I was skeptical about the message. By the title, I incorrectly believed the entire book would be about this man’s experience in heaven. Recently I was given a more detailed description of the book and encouraged to read it. I am very thankful I got the nudge because the book shows surprising vulnerability and is very well written, easily holding my attention.

The author was in a horrific car accident and pronounced dead at the scene. He laid in the tarp covered car for more than ninety minutes. After a very lengthy and challenging recovery, including living near death for awhile and enduring many surgeries, he is left in a state of pain 24/7. His words are very encouraging to anyone who lives with chronic pain and/or illness.

All that to preface an exerpt from the book that speaks my heart, to my friends and family, words that I could never express:

Some people who have known me for a long time see me as a courageous figure. I certainly haven’t seen myself that way-not for an instant-because I know too much about the real me. …. A number of individuals have said to me in the midst of their own difficult times, “If you could go through all you endured, I can go through this.” I’m glad they’ve been heartened by my example, but I’ve had a great deal of difficulty accepting myself as a source of inspiration and courage. I don’t know how to cope with their admiration and praise, because I didn’t do anything. I wanted to die. How uplifting can that be?
When people tell me how inspiring I’ve been, I don’t argue with them, of course, but I remember only to well the time David Gentiles told me that he and others would pray me back to health. I lived because others wouldn’t let me die. Those praying friends are the ones that deserve the admiration.

So, I say thank you to Don Piper for his courage in sharing these very personal feelings; and I say thank you to my friends and family who have prayed, and continue to pray, for me. These same people, and others, never stop supporting and encouraging me. This is why I continue, and am able to persevere.

I was reading the post on The Daily Headache called, Migraine: A Surprisingly Visible Invisible Illness. Her first sentence caught my interest:

Writer Anne Lamott describes someone with a migraine as having “a sort of death about the eyes.”

My family and friends have often told me that they can tell when I have a migraine coming on, they say they can see it in my eyes. I never knew what they saw, and when asked they just said that I look “different.” Perhaps the quote sums it up.

Kerrie, The Daily Headache, has pictures posted from flickr members and one I especially liked because she included a description. Reading her words I felt connected, someone else who really understands. I appreciated that she put into words what I so often feel. It is from a member known as “paper wings” and in it she states,

“Trying to hold myself still enough so the pain might not notice me.”

How often, we as migraineurs feel that, because even the slightest movement can send searing pain, or worsen the episode as a whole, including the nausea. Her words are very accurate. Her picture is titled “the face of too much”. Even the title voices the feeling.

Then at the ends she says:

This is why I’m willing to be medicated for the rest of my life with the preventative medication. Because this is not living – this is surviving

I will add to that, this is why I am willing to endure painful procedures, for the hope that I can trade them for more days pain free. For truly, this is not living, it is merely surviving.