"Knowing Security"

 "But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak." (Hebrews 6:9 KJV)

  "Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him." (Philippians 2:12-13 NLT)

 There are certain things that make us know what God is doing and has done in our lives; and then there are those things which are unknown, things which are hard to figure out, just because they don't really make sense. That is not something we need to be afraid of, even though we cannot see what or why it is happening; we can be confident that whatever happens in this life, it is all for our good, no matter how hard it appears, it is all going to be okay! 

 When I think about these things, I cannot help but wonder how long God is going to keep this going, as it seems that Marianne is starting to grow weary of her condition. After all, it has been 22 years; this time 22 years ago, she was still in Cardiac ICU. She had been in that part of the hospital for almost a month; and it wasn't until she was off the respirator that she was moved out of ICU and into a regular room. 

 For over three months she was in that hospital. When they were sure that she was not getting any better, they wanted me to have her placed in a Care-Facility. They gave me a list of places, but only one was a place I felt she would like; but they couldn't accept her because she has a tracheostomy, which was placed due to the doctor's fear that she might have aspirations. 

 When I told them I wanted to bring her home and care for her, they said it wasn't possible, because her condition was catastrophic and required round-the-clock medical care. But after several times of asking, and me starting to make the accommodations available for in-home medical care, they decided to allow me to bring her home.

 What a journey this has been! Since she was released from the hospital, she has never been there again as a patient. When I first had her home, we had several nurses and doctors show up at the house. We even had in-home nurses that would watch over her, as I worked during the day. The first winter we had no power, so I picked her up and put her in bed with me, just to keep her warm. 

 Several times I have taken her on long trips, just the two of us; sometimes a niece or nephew would go with us, especially if I planned on golfing or snowboarding. The longest trip we took was for almost a month, which was the year I started this blog, and was because I needed to heal my broken shoulder. It was hard to crawl around in subareas when your shoulder is broken. 

 That was over 15 years ago, when we took that 7,000-mile journey in the RV; which is also the picture that is shown in this blog, that says, "Count It All Joy." It was my mother-in-law that snapped a picture of us, setting off on our month-long journey. 

 God is still doing things, with this crazy journey. I really don't know where it is going, but I surely know and believe where it ends...

"For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)" (Romans 8:22-25 NLT)