I'm Moving!!

You're Invited...

to a very special celebration of life!

I know I haven't been around here a lot lately. It's been for a good reason: I've been hard at work with my son Kevin on my new WordPress website at http://www.pamthorson.com.

Today it's almost finished. It's definitely time to invite you to join me there! I think you're going to enjoy the new features. The website and blog are conveniently located in one place. Be sure to check out the blog posts; I've added pictures and updated them, and from now on all new posts will be posted there.

I love the sliders and resource features. Simply click on the picture to go to the post. Now you can get to CMADDICT.COM to find the newest Slightly Obsessed devotional every Wednesday just by clicking the link there.

I'm especially excited to introduce a new series called Unstoppable, which features the true stories of  real families who are conquering life's challenges one day at a time. If you're looking for the story of the popular little three-legged pony named Molly, you'll find it there. She's not an urban legend - she's a real survivor of the Katrina hurricane and a victor in her own right with her amazing owner Kaye Harris.

If you know a family that deserves to be featured in a future story, feel free to nominate them by sending me a message on the contact page. Be sure to ask their permission first before you send me their names and e-mail address.

I hope you make the move with me. And check in frequently, because we're not done yet. There's more to come!

Special thanks to Kevin for his hard work, patience, and expertise in helping me create the new site. It's time to party!

5 Ways to Ease Caregiver Strain

My latest issue of Nursing 2013 came in the mail yesterday. Usually I set magazines aside for later reading, but the title article on this one caught my eye immediately:

Easing the burden on family caregivers

I've been a full-time caregiver of a high-level quadriplegic son for sixteen years. I love my job, but I'm always willing to learn anything to ease the workload. I grabbed it and scanned past the clinical stuff to get to the end. I wanted to see what their ideas were for "easing the burden."

As I guessed, there was no magic bullet, no miraculous new methods for helping family caregivers. There were, however, some things worth noting. Today I've pulled out a few of their ideas and added a few things we've learned over the years to share with those who care for loved ones.


5 Ways to Ease Caregiver Strain:

1. Learn to depend on others for help.
Caregiving is a marathon. No one can take on such duties day after day after day without respite or assistance. It's hard to ask others for help, to feel needy. But those around you may wish they could help somehow and just not know what to do. If you're not comfortable with having them take over the actual caregiving duties, you could see if they would be willing assist you in chores once in a while. If you have the financial resources, you can also pay for such chores as yard work and picking up groceries to save valuable time and energy.

Getting help not only relieves the physical burden, it allows both caregiver and patient a chance to interact with others, a vital necessity for both physical and emotional health.

2. Adapt an assertive, rather than a passive, coping style. 
Those who are naturally more passive are more susceptible to crumbling under the burden of caregiving. They tend to stay isolated, worry more, ask fewer questions, and develop a negative attitude.

A healthier coping lifestyle involves actively taking charge of the situation, asking questions and pursuing the answers that will benefit both the caregiver and the patient.

3. Learn all you can.
Understanding what is happening to your family member is crucial to providing the best care with the least amount of emotional strain. Research the disease process or injury, available treatments, and the usual prognosis. It's especially important to know such basic techniques as how to correctly turn a person in bed, infection control, and bed sore prevention. Know what community, church, and government resources are available.

4. Be kind to yourself.
Caregivers often put the needs of their loved ones ahead of their own needs. In order to take good care of others, you need to be good to yourself, as well. This is easier said than done, since it's often hard to find time for anything besides work. Try to give yourself permission to care for you. Your family member needs for you to be well.

Hospital emergency departments employ a term called "triage" to decide which patients should be treated first. The idea is to put the most important cases at the front of the line. Do this with your life. Develop your own triage system to care for the "worst first" in your day. If a chore can wait until tomorrow and you're exhausted, put it at the end of the line. This works well for emotional issues, too. Don't waste your tears on things that aren't worth your energy.

5. Talk to someone.
Develop an emotional support system. Have at least one or two people who you can call when you need to cry, vent, or just talk. Don't just run to those who will agree with everything you say, though. Develop friendships with those who will listen and speak the truth. It's a two-way street; engaging with others gives our lives new perspective. It may even ignite a fresh appreciation for all we have gained through our own situations.

A Psalm for the Dark Days

It was one of those days, he was tired of the maze, 
Struggling in the mud and the mire.

That was the day I just happened to get in his way.

This Wednesday over at CMADDICT, I did something a little different for this week's devotional. I've been cleaning out my office this last week, and I ran across some song lyrics I wrote years ago. I'm sharing them with you in the hope it will encourage you on your dark days.

Life beats us up and wears us out. The temptation to pass our frustrations and anger on to others is powerful. What do we do on those days when we give into the darkness?

Click here for this week's devotional offering: Slightly Obsessed: A Psalm for the Dark Days.

Caregiverlist Summer Photo Contest Awards Gift Certificates and T-Shirts Share Your Photos and Be Entered to Win + Vote for the Winner

Today I've been asked to share with my readers an opportunity to enter a photo contest sponsored by caregiverlist.com. They're giving away Amazon gift cards and t-shirts to those submitting the best pictures. Here's your chance to share that great pic and win. If you're a caregiver and submit a picture of yourself and your senior clients or family members, be sure you have permission to share their photo.

Caregivers provide much more than just assistance to seniors, often becoming the emotional support for their senior clients as they continue to confront the process of aging.

Caregiverlist, the career and training center for professional senior caregivers, announces a summer photo contest to honor professional caregivers.  

Caregivers, Certified Nursing Aides, and Certified Home Health Aides may submit a photo of themselves with a senior client to the Caregiverlist Summer Photo Contest for Senior Caregivers. The contest starts Monday, July 8, 2013, and runs through Saturday, August 31, 2013. Winners will be announced before Labor Day. The Caregiverlist Facebook page hosts the contest.

Contest winners will be chosen based on popularity via voting.  Caregiverlist will award $100, $50 and $25 Amazon gift cards to the top 3 voted pictures and free t-shirts to the runners-up.

Photo submissions that feature some creativity and uniqueness will bring competition to this contest. Caregiverlist expects that the caregivers, Certified Nursing Aides and Certified Home Health Aides who submit “fun” photos will gain more votes. Those who submit photos should share their photo across social networks and with friends and family to encourage more voting.

Caregivers may submit their photo on Facebook and vote for caregiver and senior photo submissions here.

Caregivers also may always submit a job application on Caregiverlist to be considered for part-time, full-time and live-in caregiving jobs and find online caregiver training.

Good luck!

Caregiverlist.com

Lost in Space

The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard

And it totters like a shack,

For its transgression is heavy upon it,

And it will fall, never to rise again.

-Isaiah 24:20

They were intrepid. They were bold. They wandered space encountering monstrous aliens and fearsome worlds. The story line in the old sci-fi television series Lost in Space was as cheesy as the aliens, but it fed the new interest in the world above us ignited by the space race. This theme was revisited on a slightly more sophisticated level with the Star Trek series Voyager.

No trip to outer space has yet revealed signs of the Borg, though, but instead has offered us a breathtaking glimpse into the expansive mind of God. High above our heads, planets spin at God's command; the sun blazes at exactly the right distance to sustain life on Earth; the constellations and nebulae thrill us with their serene beauty. The only dastardly creatures to roam the galaxies are the unseen leagues under the command of Satan.

Even then, the skies hold little interest for them. 

After all, the battle is here, on Earth, the only piece of God's real estate actually lost in space. While the universe whirls obediently at His word, our planet alone lurches headlong toward destruction as its inhabitants brazenly moon their Creator. The angels watch in amazement, the demons cackle in amusement, and creation longs for the day the rebellion is finished.

Earth was created to be the best of God's work, a blue jewel in the crown of the King. But our sins rained down death upon our heads and a curse that could only be broken by royal intervention. And intervene, He did. God is at work in our world, redeeming a people for Himself and displaying the majesty of His grace to His entire realm.

It may not look like it, but each day brings us closer to rescue. At precisely the right moment, Christ will return to deliver His people, end the rebellion, and restore the planet to its intended glory.

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly,

but because of Him who subjected it,

in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption

into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit,

even we ourselves groan within ourselves,

waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons,

the redemption of our body.

-Romans 8:19-23

Today those who trust in the Lord Jesus wait for Him, aliens trapped aboard a toxic rocket hurtling through space as nations battle to throw off the final restraints to all-out lawlessness. The world appears to be running into the fire. A conflagration is coming, but the Lord Jesus has given us a powerful promise:  

Take courage; I have overcome the world. -John 16:33  

God, we are told, is the Blessed Controller of all things. Nothing surprises Him, and nothing is beyond His power. We are safe in His hands, and we will be delivered. We are not lost in space. With our eyes on those beautiful heavens from which our Redeemer will appear, we say with the Apostle:

We are looking for new heavens and a new earth,
in which righteousness dwells. - 2 Peter 3:13

No Robots Allowed

It clanked unceremoniously as it goose-stepped around the living room, a silver contraption of motors and noise. Occasionally it stopped and lowered its jaws as it emitted a metallic bark.

Could this metal contraption earn our love? Click this link and head on over for this Wednesday's devotion:
Slightly Obsessed: No Robots Allowed.

Learning to Smile

We met in the cabinet aisle at a DIYer store. We talked there for probably an hour. I've lived her desperation. I understand her pain.

What do we do when we can't escape the rain? Click this link: Slightly Obsessed: Learning to Smile

Hungry

Just when I think I have this relationship with God down, He comes roaring into my heart, a silent howl reminding me that the God-shaped hole inside is not a box but an ever-expanding universe. If you're feeling as dry and hungry as I am these days, click this link: Slightly Obsessed: Hungry and join me at for the weekly devotional.

Zayden's Promise

Ange Movius was on the same youth ministry team as my son Kevin when he fell and broke his neck in 1997. We had not really connected, though, until recently, when I had some portraits made for my next book. When I checked out her website, I stumbled upon a page entitled "Zayden's Promise," which offered bereavement portraits and posted the testimony of Angie Smith, wife of Selah founder and singer Todd Smith. I watched the tender video celebrating the life of their child Audrey, touched by their reverence for God and their love for the child that went to be with Him. In an age when millions of babies are routinely disposed of, it was like taking in a holy breath of fresh air, bathed in life.

Loving the children.
Worshiping the Giver.
Trusting in forever.

I was so moved by Ange's anointed photos that I just had to know the story behind the story. She has graciously consented to share her heart for these little ones and their grieving families, and why she does what she does. 


What inspired you to start Zayden’s Promise?
A good friend of mine, Tanya, was pregnant with Zayden the same time I was pregnant with my second child. We connected over our pregnancy, and when Zayden was born and then passed away, it was so close to me because it could’ve just as easily been my baby.

I felt so helpless and like I wanted to do something to help, and I also felt survivor's guilt, that my baby had survived and hers hadn’t. I avoided talking to her for a few months- it was so hard to face her with my baby in my arms and hers in the grave. Eventually, I wrote her a card and poured my heart out to her.

I avoided saying things like, “Sorry for your loss.” I’ve always thought that if I went through something like that, I’d want people to acknowledge my baby, that he was a person, that he lived, that he was more than just a “loss.” I sent her a mix CD along with the card with songs that brought me hope and said that music has always helped me in times of darkness and when I needed healing.

She didn’t say anything at the time, but months later she connected with me and told me the card and the CD meant the world to her. She referred me to the story of Angie Smith and how she walked through her pregnancy knowing at the end her baby would die. (Read Angie and Todd's story at  http://angiesmithonline.com/2008/01/the-beginning-of-the-story/ )

I stayed up all night reading Angie’s story and weeping. When I got to the part about Audrey’s birth, and saw beautiful portraits done by a professional photographer, I knew that was what I was supposed to do. That’s how I could be God’s healing hand in people’s lives right in the middle of the chaos of grief, bringing a glimpse of His hope.

Tanya has been so gracious as to hold my hand along the way. Through the things that scared me, the things that made me want to weep and run away, she’s stood behind me and reminded me what God has called me to do, and that He always provides strength in the darkest of times.





"I always cradle them to my chest
and treat them like they were my 
own baby - not a body, but a person."  




What has been the most poignant moment you’ve experienced in your work with families who have lost or are losing a loved one?

It’s always hard, but there are a few times that my heart was just ripped out and I grieved so deeply for these families. I know that God has allowed me to feel just a touch of the pain so that I can be in prayer for them. I’ve spent nights weeping my guts out and praying for these families. God has been so good, though, as to let me always hold it together when I’m working with the families at the hospital. It isn’t easy to cradle a body and to not at times feel afraid or sickened. 

It’s always the hardest when the babies are full term. They are perfect, beautiful, and so very heartbreaking.  Once, I was getting ready to walk in to photograph a couple with their baby and I heard the wife say to her husband, “God is with us, even in this. I don’t know why we have to have this happen, nothing like this has ever happened to us, but God will carry us through this.” That moment ministered to me so much, seeing the way God’s hope makes such a difference in the grief process.

Sometimes, when the babies have just been born, and they are soft and still warm and their skin is loose and wrinkly, and they feel so very alive, and like if you just blew breath into them they would come back, those are the hardest. It’s harder to separate my emotions from the moment or to be in denial that this is a little person. I always cradle them to my chest and treat them like they were my own baby - not a body, but a person.

What have you learned along the way?
Since losing Zayden, Tanya and her husband Jeremiah loved and lost a baby girl, Halliee, and I had to walk through a time of not understanding and being very angry at God, feeling like He dropped the ball. Halliee in my mind was supposed to be their miracle, the promise after the pain, and I couldn’t understand why God had “failed” them.

I imagine that is just a small taste of what my families feel. He was gracious enough to walk me through that time, helping my heart to be at peace with it, and being ok with that I may not understand everything that happens here this side of heaven. Haillee would’ve been the same age as my youngest, and Zayden would’ve been the same age as my second child, and I often find myself looking at them and thinking, “I wonder what they would’ve been like? I wonder what my life would’ve been like if I had lost my babies?”

Did you have any preconceived notions about death that have changed? About life?
Death is quick moving and harsh, once someone is gone there is no holding them back from death, as much as you might never want to let go. Photographing these babies and families is a constant reminder of how precious and uncertain life is. I’m reminded to really enjoy the moments we have and how life without God’s hope is a very dark place to be.

Something Tanya has always said to me is that anytime you can invite Jesus into someone’s grief, that is what makes all the difference in the world.

How has Zayden’s Promise increased your faith in God?

I now understand how quick this life is, and how God cares so much about us spending eternity with Him. He is willing to let us walk through darkness and pain if it allows us to be drawn to Him.

Ange Movius is the creative mind behind Ange Movius Photography, established in 2005 and located in the Lewis-Clark Valley of Northern Idaho. Her husband Trav is a vital team member, and they are the parents of three awesome children. Her non-profit program, Zayden's Promise, offers free infant bereavement photos and portraits for terminally ill children.

Click these links to see more of Ange's work:
Ange Movius Photography
Ange's Blog

In the War for Independence, Who Will Be Their Voice?

Learn to do good;

Seek justice,
Reprove the ruthless;
Defend the orphan,
Plead for the widow.
Isaiah 1:17 NASB

A heat wave has gripped the nation as the United States celebrates Independence Day. In the midst of withering triple-digest temperatures, a cold wind blows. The chill is coming from the icy fingers of death...the death, that is, of compassion.  

On July 4th of every year we cheer the American Revolution, committed to the radical notion that every human is equal in the eyes of his Creator and deserving of the most basic of freedoms: 

Life.
Liberty.
The pursuit of happiness.

How ironic that the end stage of such a war would, over two hundred years later, those three essential rights would come with asterisks, that the basic foundation stones for our society would be moved at will by those to whom we have charged the defense of our nation.

Today life is only granted for those who are deemed wanted or useful to society. Disabled, defective, or incomplete humans have no place in Darwin's brave new world of the survival of the fittest. As medical resources have become more scarce, we are already in the process of moving quietly toward allocating care to those most likely to benefit from it in restored contribution to society. 

The tenets of liberty and the pursuit of happiness have also been perverted to legalize perversion and squash religious freedom. The long slide down this slope began decades ago, when we began throwing innocence in the trash along with unborn babies, nativity scenes, and school prayer. 

I've been there. I've seen it. Nearly twenty years ago, I was fighting to keep the doctor from making my disabled mother die because, in his words, "Her life is worthless." This was not a woman in a coma, but simply crippled and silenced by strokes. 

When she first knew something was going wrong in her body, she told me, "Pam, give me every chance to live." When the time came to give her that chance, the doctor didn't even ask what she would want. She was worthless, no longer counted.

Sixteen years ago, I was fighting to keep the doctor from pulling the plug on our son after his spinal cord injury. Kevin also wasn't in the mood to die, but that doctor didn't ask his opinion, either. Evidently, he no longer counted in the economy of life.

One fight occurred in America; one in Canada; but both were part of the deliberate parade toward exterminating those who do not fit our definition of "useful." This march transcends nations, politics, and administrations. It's not being orchestrated by doctors, nurses, or even politicians. It's the heavy boot step of an unseen enemy with one goal: to destroy all humanity and thus hurt and rob the Creator who made us.

He's found plenty enough help from us. Our society is sick; in fact, our world is sick. As we fall collectively farther and farther from God, the compassion and care for others that naturally flows from His heart falls with it. Life no longer has dignity by virtue of being. The body is no longer considered the temple of a living soul, but a glob of throbbing tissue and random brain waves. Life itself is open to interpretation.

It's all been complicated by the advance of medical technologies that have blurred the lines between living and dying. When to give up has become harder and harder to decide. I understand the pain endured by many families in making the tough medical decisions necessary for their sick and injured loved ones.

This isn't about those issues.

This is about speaking for those without either voice or choice. It's about remembering that we are made in the image of of the great I AM; valued because we are. It's about those with power using that power to protect the powerless. No one should have to prove that they can be useful on order to deserve life. 

No one but God has the right to give and take life. Nor does anyone have the right to decide who is worthy of our care. The more I learn about what is being done today in the name of medicine, the more I mourn, and the more I determine this:

For those without a voice: I must speak.
For those whose limbs are silent, I will, by the grace of God, be their hands and feet.
To a hurting world, I long, with all my heart, to be the expression of His comfort.

America, America, as we celebrate this birthday, may God shed His grace on us, the undeserving. 

Hero

Everybody loves a hero. From white knights to Spiderman, Wonder Woman, and firemen - we all adore larger-than-life figures. Hero is a timeless concept, a word chiseled in stone and swathed in red, white, and blue. It evokes images of dashing figures and just-in-time deliverance.

A hero is someone we can believe in, lean on, and trust with our lives and sacred honor. A hero is always there.

My hero is the Lord Jesus. He's the only person who ever lived a life that was absolutely unsoiled, perfectly gentle, and truly wise. He has never left me forsaken on the railroad tracks of life as the inevitable wheels of death came charging down the rails- although I've squirmed a few times as I heard the rumble of disaster approaching. But He's always arrived...just in time... every time.

He's big. He's strong. He's amazing. He's the royalty that bends down to pick up the peasant. He's my King, and He never tires of riding out on the white horse to swoop me up out of my latest fall into some messy pit.

But life for us is not about being the eternal damsel in distress. God has saved us for a purpose:

He calls us to follow Him.
He commands us to take on the nature of His Kingdom.
He calls us to purity, wisdom, discernment, and courageous action.

He calls us to a life of heroic deeds.

Rise to the challenge. Live like you belong in the Kingdom. Be someone's hero today.

When Your Soul Is Shredded

There are two wolves inside us.

The one we feed is the one that will grow.

-Native American proverb

The attacks came without warning, one after another. These last months our family has been reeling from a series of setbacks we never anticipated. Problems we didn't cause and can't fix.

Yesterday was so bad I just had to escape from the phone and the stress and the numbness shredding my soul. I bolted down the driveway and glanced around, remembering to check for snakes and the coyotes that had been calling this morning up the dry canyon above our house. Occasionally they wander all the way down to the yard looking for wayward scraps or cats.

Usually I alternate between anger and pity for them. Anger when they kill our animals. Pity when the summer is hot and barren and they comb the hillside in mangy coats looking for food.

Yesterday I envied them.

I wanted to flee up the canyon wall far away from humans and their struggles, to find a way out. I needed escape. I wanted to release the fear and the anger and the helplessness.

Actually, I wanted to howl.

Instead, I walked for a bit and returned to the house. Our family circled the wagons, as is our habit when new challenges threaten one or the other of us. We spent the evening together, drawing strength from each other as we enjoyed a meal and movie.

Today, the wolves are again at war. Today I halt between two opinions. Is disaster on the horizon? Or is God at work in a mysterious and mystical way?

Fear and Faith sit at my door. Both are ravenous. Will I feed one and allow myself to be consumed, or will I feed the one that will send the predator packing? Which one will I give my trust?

So it comes to this. I must choose to turn off the outside voices feeding the beast and give my mind permission to feed my starving soul on the goodness of God. This was surely what the apostle Paul meant when he wrote these words:

...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,

whatever is of good repute,

if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,

dwell on these things.

-Philippians 4:8

Dwell on what is good and holy. Frolic in the fruit of the Spirit. Reach for the joy set before you. Trust in a faithful Creator.

If you're as hungry and dry as I am, pray with me:

Here I am, Lord. 

I'm dying on the inside.

My enemy is too strong for me.

Strengthen my faith; teach me how to trust You.

Help me to close my ears to the voice of the predator.

Give me eyes to see Your great power and love.

Feed me.

Amen.

Will You Survive the Storm?

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,

And He brought them out of their distresses.

He caused the storm to be still.

Psalm 107:28-29

He is called the "prince of the power of the air."* He invades world events, rattles our physical world, and causes havoc in the hearts of men. We know him as the devil, or Satan. He always blows in bringing trouble for God's creation.

++++++++++++++

It had been a particularly busy and productive time of ministry for Jesus, though danger lurked everywhere. Many were healed and heard the Good News. But His cousin had recently been beheaded by the king. It seemed a storm was brewing.

"Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest awhile," He told His disciples. They took a boat across the Sea of Galilee to find a quiet place.

The crowd followed them, however, and were waiting for Him as their boat reached land. Although Jesus was bone-weary, He was filled with compassion at the sight of the people, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He spoke to them until it was very late, then He filled their empty bellies with a miracle dinner of five loaves of bread and two fish.

If He was tired before, He must have been exhausted by then.

He told the disciples to go on ahead of Him in the boat while He sent the crowd away. Then He went to the mountain to pray for awhile.

As Jesus prayed, a strong wind came up and threatened the boat and His disciples. It was nearly morning. The disciples were caught in the middle of the sea, buffeted by the winds, unable to reach safety.

In the dark, in the middle of a sea, Jesus saw them struggling. He came to them in their crisis; He met them in the storm. He didn't have to join them. He had just miraculously produced enough food out of thin air to feed a crowd. He could have spoken the word from His mountain and calmed the waves.

Instead, He went to their side, walking on the storm as if were His personal highway. The disciples were terrified. Who was this man? 

He told them, "Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid." Only He did not actually say "It is I." He said, literally, "I AM."

I AM. The ancient name for the LORD God of Israel. The name given to Moses out of the burning bush. The Eternal God.

Our Creator.

Are you weary of fighting the storm? Are you caught between destruction and the safe shore for which you long? Are you more certain of the strength of the evil one than you are of the Savior?

Take courage.

God sees you. His Son Jesus has conquered the winds and the waves that threaten to sweep you away. Even when His power was restrained by the constraints of a human body, Jesus commanded authority over every challenge raised against those He loved. Now at the right hand of the Father, He has released the awesome power of the Holy Spirit to fight for you.

You're not alone. You won't sink. Watch and trust Him to come to you and conquer your storm.

He has promised, "I AM"    ...everything you need.

*Ephesians 2:2

The Beautiful Broken (and the People Who Love Them) - The Shepherd Family

Today is the first in a series called The Beautiful Broken (and the People Who Love Them). In the following months, I will be introducing you to some amazing people. The world might see them as damaged, but in the eyes of God and those who love them, they are absolutely priceless. As remarkable are the families who dedicate their lives to their protection and care. 

I look forward to this journey with you. We have a lot to learn from them about life, devotion, and comprehending the depths of God's love .  

It was just a shopping day with her mother and eighteen-month-old daughter Laura. Linda was driving the car that fateful day after Christmas when an unguarded moment sent them careening into the path of a minivan at sixty miles an hour. The collision took off the back seat of their car.

Linda and her mother were dazed but okay. But little Laura's car seat went flying out of the car on impact and landed in the middle of the freeway with Laura still buckled in. She was much too quiet.

At the hospital, Linda discovered Laura had suffered a devastating brain injury. She was sent to ICU, where she was wracked with seizures. Surgery relieved the swelling, but she remained unconscious and hooked up to a ventilator. Linda repelled the doctor's suggestion they remove Laura from the ventilator, and when they had the opportunity to move her to a hospital closer to home, Linda was sure her daughter would begin to improve.

At the Colorado hospital, however, twenty-four health care professionals gave her an unanimous decision: Laura was in a vegetative state. She was given no hope for improvement.

Although Linda outwardly fought for her daughter to be kept on the ventilator, inwardly she was in turmoil. One desperate night she made plans to take Laura off the ventilator and overdose herself on pills to end their suffering. As she contemplated this, she knew her actions would also be taking the life of her unborn child, barely two weeks old.

Thankfully, her reason returned before she acted on her impulse. She went to sleep that night terrified of her own dark thoughts and the knowledge she had almost acted on them.

That moment signaled a turning point for the Shepherd family. Linda surrendered her life and the lives of her children once again to God. Laura stayed the same until, ironically, she awakened from her coma one day at the sound of her new baby brother crying.

Laura interacts with therapist Pam Hyink

Today Laura remains paralyzed and on a ventilator. But she smiles and laughs and fills her family with joy. Her father Paul and brother Jimmy are her tender protectors. She has taught her world much about the value of those who are broken by the world's standards, but beautiful beyond comparison in the eyes of God.

The Shepherd Family (l to r): Laura, Paul, Linda, and Jimmy

Linda is an author and speaker who shares the lessons God has taught her through their tragedy. The trials she has endured form the springboard from which she ministers the peace and healing she has received through her Savior.

Laura's life is a reminder we are all broken in some way, and God loves the imperfect vessels He calls His children.

Linda Evans Shepherd lives at home in Longmont, CO with her husband of 26 years and their two children, Jimmy and Laura. Linda is an author and speaker, the publisher of Right To the Heart of Women Electronic Magazine and president of the nonprofit organization, Right to the Heart.










Read more about Linda Evans Shepherd:
Linda and Laura Shepherd
Right to the Heart of Women
http://www.righttotheheart.com/
Linda Evans Shepherd
Linda's e-book: Grief Relief


Photos courtesy Linda Evans Shepherd
Tree photo courtesy Erik Thorson

Whirlwind

I know it's been looking quiet around here at 'Til Dawn Comes in June. But our lives have been a whirlwind. Just before a planned family visit, Kevin came down with an infection and had to go through the usual round of testing and antibiotics. Thank God, it was not a particularly nasty illness this time, and he quickly recovered - just in time for the family fun.

We spent a hectic but joyous week celebrating the birthdays of our two wonderful granddaughters.
The guys went on a fishing expedition to a local lake, the girls went shopping (what else?), and we managed to work in  miniature golf, a movie, and game night.

As most caregivers will tell you, the day-to-day duties required to assist a loved one with life's challenges leave little time for festivities of any kind. We work hard every day. So do our grown children and growing grandchildren. The added miles between us make our rare reunions that much sweeter.

So we had a blast. We crammed as much fun as possible into the visit and managed to do everything on our dream list. We created lots and lots of memories to get us through the long days until we are together again.                                                                                
                                                                               

I'm exhausted.
And refreshed.

This week I'm back in the saddle here and at CMADDICT.COM. I have lots on my heart and lots to share with you as we navigate the treacherous rapids of this life together.

Be sure to check in tomorrow for the weekly devotional on Slightly Obsessed.

Photos courtesy Grace Thorson, Jennifer Thorson, and Racheal McCormack

It's Okay to Cry

In much wisdom there is much grief,

and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.

Ecclesiastes 1:18

They were born alive, squirming, whimpering, gasping for breath. As they lay fighting for life on the filthy table, an employee took a pair of scissors and snipped their spinal cords. In some cases, the infant was nearly decapitated. 

The recent reports of the horrific conditions at an abortion clinic run by Kermit Gosnell turn my stomach. I can't even think of what those children and their mothers endured. It unleashes a mourning within me that threatens to rise to the surface and spill over into heartbroken grief. It makes me want to wail.

I always wonder why I feel like I have to keep it controlled, why I have to think about something else. It's so much easier to look away than it is to have the pain and responsibility of knowing the truth.

The Bible tells us God is all-knowing and all-powerful. If He knows everything, then He sees not only every act of faith and courage that happens on earth, but every act of evil and injustice, as well. How His heart must break! How much pain He must bear! Because He has reserved judgment until all have had a chance to accept His gift of forgiveness, He restrains His great power and waits.

He waits for us.

It's our responsibility to know what is happening in our world, and how it relates to God's Word. But it's not enough to understand. As we increase in knowledge and wisdom, it's time for action. 

In Christ alone lies hope for a weary world. It's our job to be His hands and feet and heart. There are people dying without hope today. If we have Christ's heart, we will weep with Him. If we are His feet, we will go to those who are dying and lonely and distressed. If we are His hands, we will reach out to give and comfort. others. If we have His eyes, we will not look away from suffering. 

If we have His voice, we will speak the truth.

The next time bad news comes on the tv. it's our call to action, whether it's to pray or to move or to give. It's okay to cry. Just don't look away. 

Is it hard for you to hear bad news on the airwaves? How do you deal with the heartache you see around you? What is God calling you to do? 

Unbreakable

Photo courtesy Erik Thorson 2013

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, 

nor angels,

nor principalities, 

nor things present, 

nor things to come,

nor powers, 

nor height,

 nor depth, 

nor any other created thing,

will be able to separate us from the love of God,

which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

Famed evangelist Billy Graham tells the story of an English missionary who died in India during the early 1900's. Immediately his former neighbors broke into his home and pillaged it, stealing the man's possessions. The English consul was notified, and an official went to investigate.

The missionary did not have a lock on his door, so it could not be secured. The official simply pasted a piece of paper across it and affixed the seal of England on it. After that, there was no more looting. No one dared to break the seal because it represented what was at the time the world's most powerful nation.

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth,

the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, 

you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,

who is given as a pledge of our inheritance,

with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, 
to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:13-14

In the East, a seal was more important than a signature. The signet used to imprint a seal usually sat in a ring inscribed with words or symbols and reflected an office of importance. It was usually used with clay, because of its permanence. Wax was used, too, but was not as desirable because it was prone to melt in the hot sun. Clay hardened over time. In order to break the seal, the clay itself would have to be broken.

In the Bible a seal represented both security and ownership. An official seal was used to hold Daniel in the lions' den, and the seal of Rome kept anyone from tampering with the tomb of Jesus under pain of death. In the book of Esther we discover the Persian king who ruled over Israel was unable to revoke his own decree, because it was sealed it with his official signet ring.

Ancient Ephesus was a port city and carried on an extensive trade in lumber. A purchase was made by selecting the timber, stamping it with a signet or other sign of ownership. When the buyer was ready for the lumber, he would send an agent with the signet to locate and claim all the wood with his seal on them.

Remember now, that You have made me as clay.

Job 10:9

If you have bowed your knee to Jesus Christ, the imprint of God is on your heart. You are sealed by the authority of the Lord on high. You are under His protection, and the power of all Heaven stands behind His mark. He is sealed in you. He can't leave without breaking the clay and His promise to never leave you forsaken. 

You may feel fragile, weak, and ready to break. The heat you're feeling, however, will just harden the seal of the Master on your life. Nothing in this creation, nothing in your future, and nothing in your past can destroy you. The power of God is unbreakable, because He will never revoke His own decree.

You are, quite literally, possessed by Christ. Be comforted, for the full power of the Lord is behind His mark on you. You are safe. You are His. You are treasured.

You are unbreakable.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay 

to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

2 Corinthians 4:7