May God Bless Her

     I have been blown away and bothered by the death of Whitney Houston this past week.  She was only a few years older than I am.  I was a big fan of hers in my younger days, and always saw her as a beautiful and talented woman.  She will be dearly missed by her family and fans.

     The other day a dear friend, that I co-facilitate with at Rachel's Vineyard Retreats, sent me the lyrics to one of Whitney Houston's songs, which speaks of a pregnancy loss from abortion.  The words beautifully render the thoughts and feelings a post abortive mother has, when she regrets her choice and is wracked with pain from it.  I don't know if Ms. Houston had an abortion or not, I just know that her lyrics to this song are so truthful and insightful as they hold up a mirror to the post abortive.  Certainly, her lifelong struggle with alcohol and drug addiction would be fitting a person who suffered from an enormous amount of emotional pain.  I share these lyrics here with you now, and send prayers of healing and hope to her family, friends and fans, and say for sure, that this song has touched many, many individuals who have suffered a child loss through abortion, and through her work, she will live on and on.
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Whitney Houston-In Memoriam
August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012

We will miss this beautiful, talented mother who inspired us all with her music. Dr. Theresa Burke mentions Whitney Houston in her presentation on post-abortive trauma and celebrities. Please see the lyrics below to a beautiful song about post-abortion pain by Whitney Houston:

How could I throw away a miracle?
How could I face another day?
It's all of my doing, I made a choice
And today, I pay
My heart is full of pain

How could you understand, the way I feel?
How could you relate to so much pain?
Seems as though nothing can comfort me
So today, I pray
That someone should listen, for...

Chorus:
Nothing should matter
Not when love grows inside you
The choice is yours
There's a miracle in store...
Nothing should matter
Not when love grows inside you
A voice of love is crying out
Don't throw love away
There's a miracle in store...

How could I let go of a miracle?
Nothing could ever take its place
Thought I was looking, out for myself
Now it seems the pain
Is all that I have gained
I wonder if I could be your miracle
I wonder if I could spare you pain
Seems as though nothing will comfort me
Lord, less today, I pray
That you should come listen

Chorus 

 

Don't ever throw away your miracle
Don't let it slip away
Nothing should matter

Chorus

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Keep it out of the Ditch

I love love love riding my bicycle.  Now that my little guy is getting older, he's four, we can go together and we're getting speedier.  The other day we were riding and he kept going over an area on the pavement that was uneven and he would catch it just so and his training wheels would get stuck there, so he would be peddling and his tire would be spinning instead of moving him forward.  He would fuss and whine and want me to push him out of the rut, rather than putting his feet on the ground and getting himself out of his predicament, which I did  a couple of times and then decided he needed to do it himself.

Finally, after many times rolling over that area and getting stuck, mind you the area he kept getting stuck in was about 2 feet wide and we had an area about the size of a football field to ride on; I said to him, "Honey, why don't you stop driving your bike into the ditch, and then you won't get stuck."  To which he said, "oh, okay," and he did.  Problem solved.  I thought, you know that could apply to so many things in our lives, couldn't it?  

How many times do we keep going over the same area, which gets us "stuck," when we have so much other ground we could cover?  How many times do we sit and spin our wheels and complain, when it's us that keeps getting us stuck in that same spot over and over again?  Why do we keep doing that?  I've heard the saying, and maybe you have too, "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting to have a different outcome."  I'm guilty of that, how about you?  Then, after I casually suggested to my son that he go a different way, he did and never got stuck again the whole time we were riding.  And I could tell by his response that he hadn't thought of that solution at all, until I mentioned it.  He is super intelligent, and I know it's not that he couldn't have, he can figure out how things work and makes connections that astonish me all the time; he simply oozes common sense.  I love that about him.  His little eyes were just shut to this notion before I said it, he just simply couldn't see it.  Again, I'm reminded of the implications that could have in real life.  Sometimes we can't see our own solutions, even when they are as simple and plain as the nose on our faces, unfortunately sometimes this leads to choices with severe consequences also.

Be Still

It is gray and wintry here today with a light, drizzly rain that falls continuously.  Things are quiet, people are staying inside, the world seems more still and hushed.  I recently gifted a precious friend with an art quilt that incorporated her favorite Bible verse, "Be still and know that I am God," Psalm 46:10.  It is one of the shortest verses in the Bible with a simple, yet powerful message.  Good things come in small packages, don't they?  

This verse is called to mind today, as the weather seems to echo the sentiment, "be still," and rouses my heart in remembering God is everywhere, in everything, all the time.  All around us, in us (if we've invited Him), with us, and for us.  What a treasure, a blessing, an indescribable gift and an unwavering comfort. 

To me, God is commanding us, not demanding of us, but more reminding us to practice just waiting and listening to hear Him.  To not feel worried, or anxious or concerned about matters in our every day lives, rather to trust in His sovereign understanding of all things relevant, and His gracious provision for our every need.  He doesn't mince words, it's not, "if you think it's a good idea, know that I am God," or "you might consider being still and knowing that I am God, because it might be good for you;"  the question of whether or not it is good for us is non-existent.  In His perfect way, in succinct terms, which drive straight to the point, He simply says to do it, "be still, and know," because He always knows what is good for us, all of us.

I can tell you that, when I take time in my daily life to do this, a couple of amazing and wonderful things start to happen.  One, I feel so much closer to my God, to Jesus, to my higher power; and two, I hear Him speak, maybe not in audible words like I do here on earth, but in whispers in my heart, my soul or my mind.  Sometimes I hear messages through something someone says to me, or through circumstances, or through research, or through reading the Word.  It doesn't matter how He speaks, the point is, "am I being still and listening and therefore knowing that He is God," and really listening; or am I focusing on the thousands of noises around me each day, the distractions, the chaos?  

There must be a daily, intentional choice to be still and listen, and to know.  Like so many other things in a healthy life, it starts with a choice to "be" in a different way, to engage with the world in using my time in a different and better way.  Engaging with others in alternate ways, making provisions to do things in another way, or plan to do something in a new way.  One thing is for sure, if I don't think about it, plan for it, and do something about it, IT WILL NOT GET DONE--this I know for sure, without a doubt.