LOVE IS A BEAUTIFUL THING,

I would like to share a tribute that my grandson Jeff Boettcher wrote to his wife Angie. Jeff was only one week out of the hospital after receiving a colostomy bag. They had been married for only a short seven years, when their love and commitment were severely tested. His tribute on Facebook reads as follows:
  

"Love is being able to forgive someone after you've had the 100th fight about the same issue, and said many things that you regret and hurt each other more than you thought possible.

Love is falling into bed too exhausted to do anything, but hold hands after spending many hours chasing your kids.

Love is sitting by a hospital bedside. Not once, not twice, but for more times than you can remember.

Love is holding each other and crying as another doctor comes with another bad report and another hospital visit is planned and you wonder if life will ever be full of health again.

Love is giving your spouse a sponge bath, because they can't move as they recover from yet another surgery.

Love is getting up in the middle of the night to change the bed sheets, because your spouse's colostomy bag leaked.

Love is reminding your spouse of the truth of God's promises, the reality of His faithfulness and deepness of His love as they cry tears of desperation into the dark.

Love is doing all this with joy in your heart, confidence in the goodness of God and grace beyond measure.

Love is looking at your spouse who has lost over 30 lbs and looks nothing like the person you married and telling them, "With all I know of our life now, with all we've been though and with the uncertainty of our future, I'd still choose you.  You are the best thing that has ever happened to me.  I have never loved you more or been more attracted to you than I am at this moment"

Yeah, that's love and it's a beautiful thing." 

   

HE TOOK OUR PAIN

I would like to share a true story about my mother and  how she  experienced the Lord consuming her pain, by faith in His pain on the cross.

One Sunday afternoon my mother's nose started to bleed.  Within the next half hour, my father had to rush her to the emergency room. By the time she arrived at the hospital she was hemorrhaging from her nose. Her blood pressure was extremely high. Fortunately, the pressure came out her nose rather than having a stroke.

 Mom was a faithful believer.  By the time I got to her, she was praising the Lord the best she could.  She was very scared and white as a sheet. Cotton was being pushed up her nose through her sinuses to stop the bleeding. She was crying out to the Lord, "Help me Lord.  I love you, I love you."  

I took her right hand and held it tightly. "You are going to be okay, Mom.  We will praise Him together" 

As we started to praise the Lord for who He was, I received a word from Him, "Praise Me for Calvary.  I am letting her feel a pinch of the pain that I took for her."

"Mom, we have to praise the Lord for Calvary and for the pain He endured for us." I exclaimed to her.

She immediately started to praise the Lord. The more we thanked Him for all the pain He endured for us, the more that the bleeding began to stop and the pain to subside.  The nurses were amazed.  They had never seen anything like this, and neither had we. 

My mother later told me, "Dottie, I think I now know a little more about the fellowship of His suffering. He did consume my pain in His.  Mine was nothing compared to His. Praise His Holy name."

I have never forgotten her words or the Lord's testimony of His presence with us. We worship an amazing God. His presence is always with us.

POWER IN PRAISE

The first time that I experienced the power in praise was in 1972.  I was a very young Christian. Since then, the Lord has allowed several  opportunities for me to witness His power in praise.
  
It was a rainy night and I was on my way to a prayer meeting.  Roger was out of town on business and our fourteen year old daughter was at home baby sitting. As I turned to go up a hill, a big tractor trailer was coming down. Suddenly without any warning, a car shot out from behind the trailer.  I had no place to go. We collided head on. 

Amazingly I felt a very strong arm come across my chest and literally push me  back. It was not normal.  I should have gone forward and hit my head. After the crash, my right leg was trapped under the dashboard as I sat in the front seat. I was in pain. 

Then, I heard an almost audible voice say to me, "Praise the Lord".  I immediately started to praise Him for everything I could think of. Finally,I just repeated "Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, praise the Lord." As I kept praising the Lord I slowly was able to bring my foot out from under the dashboard and the pain was gone.  

The ambulance arrived and they wanted to take me to the hospital.  I told them that I was fine, but they insisted that I was in shock and needed to go.

 I was more concerned about the driver in the other car  He was a young driver (16 years) who had just obtained his license. I felt so sorry for him. One of his knees was critically crushed and needed immediate attention. We were both taken to the hospital.  I was soon released. 

The young boy  wasn't too happy to see his father. Just a few months before his father had spent some serious money repairing the same crushed knee after an ATV accident. I just continued to pray for him.

Roger came home from his business trip early to take care of all the details.  Our car was totaled. The insurance company loaned us a car until we could buy another.

Truly, God does inhabit the praises of his people.  I believe it was an angel that held me back and reminded me to praise the Lord in all circumstances and as I did the pain left. What an amazing presence of our God.  He is always with us. 1 Thessalonians 5:17.