Fear not . . . be of good courage (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Deuteronomy 31:6 KJV

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

You might wonder what a picture of firefighters battling a fire has to do with being strong and of good courage. Having done it (or, should I say, faced it) I can tell you it takes courage to face the heat and danger that results from a fire in a commercial building -- particularly large structures like a warehouse or a store. But God is there anytime there is fear and uncertainty. For example, last fall, when I was hospitalized for three weeks after my hydrocephalus became symptomatic, all I could do was turn to God. Imagine, if you will, having a headache, blurred vision, and vertigo so severe that the only option is to perform brain surgery. Just one problem: the pressure inside your head (known as intracranial pressure) is so high, that even the slightest change in it could result in a potentially fatal brain bleed. That was my situation and all I could do was ask Heavenly Father to relieve the pressure and pain and bless the doctor's with the wisdom to provide an effective, but safe, treatment. It has taken some time, but I am pretty much back to my baseline to use medical terminology.

Today's prayer

Lord, if I am fearful or uncertain, please give me your peace and remind me that you are with me always . . . even until the end of the age. Amen.

Finding the faith to press on

Press On (Selah)

Beginning last December (2013), I was troubled by Atrial Fibrillation, a condition where the atrium (top right chamber of the heart) doesn't beat effectively, instead it quivers. Rather that worrying about it, I came home from the doctor and got on Facebook and ask my family and friends to get a prayer chain going -- that I had a long, hard road ahead of me. Also, being a Latter-Day Saint, I knew I must try, as I have been taught, to endure to the end. Does that mean I prepared to die? Not at all, instead I "dug in" and prepared to battle the problem with Heavenly Father's help. I won't lie . . . it was the roughest three months of my life. The funny thing was that I was willing to accept it as the "thorn in my side" because friends were being strengthened - and acting on their own health problems - seeing how I was dealing with mine. That wasn't Heavenly Father's plan for me as he guided my Cardiologist to send me to an Electrophysiologist who performed surgery and implanted a pacemaker (pictured above right). Now, some two months and two weeks after the surgery, I am back in good health. All because I endured and pressed on!