There Is a Season

/ Gail Johnson / 22 Comments

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Seasons of Life

I’ve been blogging for six years! Can you believe it? And I still struggle with how to share what’s going on in my life. If you haven’t guessed, I’m a private person. Some may even call me a hermit. But when I created this blog, I knew sharing was a necessary part of building friendship.

It’s not that I don’t want to share with my friends. I love my friends, so why shouldn’t I want to share with them?

Truth be told, it’s not about the sharing but the caring. I love my life. It’s not an exciting one, but it’s who I am and what I do. Still, I struggle with why anyone would care about what I do? Do you ever wonder that, or is it just me?

Funny thing, when I notice someone has disappeared on a blog or social media, I immediately wonder if they’re sick. Why don’t they let us know what’s going on? 😊 For the record, I love reading about what ever one else is doing. Lol! Anyway, I’ve been absent lately, and I thought I should share what is going on.

Most of you know my daughter had Covid last month. It took several weeks for the household to bounce back from the no sleep, high-alert, and endless days and nights. Thankfully, everyone is beginning to feel like themselves. What we didn’t realize was the following weeks would bring permanent changes to our lives.

Before we closed the books on August, I lost six people in my life. Three friends and three family members. Two from Covid. Four from various health and age related problems. One was my aunt who was like a mother/sister to me. It’s been an emotional whirlwind for the past seven weeks. And let me tell ya, I’m tired.

For the past three weeks, we’ve sorted through personal documents and belongings, relived memories, and gotten reacquainted. We’ve cried, mourned, and laughed. The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us there is a season for everything. And just like the writer mirrors the opposites in the same sentence, this season has been a sad and hopeful one. Sad because of our loss. Hopeful because it’s not the end. It’s not goodbye.

To all the family and friends, we’re praying for you.

Heaven and Earth

Earth whispers, “Farewell.”

Witnessing a departure.

Heaven shouts, “Hello.”

Welcoming an arrival.

Until then,

We wait.

© 2009 Gail Johnson

Announcement

Please join me next week when Stephanie Daniels will be sharing her latest book and talking about Kindle Vella! Y’all, I love this story.

Songs of Deliverance

/ Gail Johnson / 19 Comments

Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah (Psalm 32:7).

When I scheduled my last post, I didn’t realize I would eat and sleep those words.

As a medical assistant, my daughter knows the risks of her job. We both do. Every morning, I stand on a step and hug my family and pray for their safety. The last Friday in July, I held my daughter as she cried from exhaustion and prayed.

Earlier that morning, I’d listened to “Great is Thy Faithfulness” on YouTube, and a random playlist was now playing. Every song was magnifying the Lord and His faithfulness to us. I began singing the words over my daughter. After she left for work, I made a mental note of the songs.

Thankfully, she works with an incredible medical staff. That afternoon she took a Covid test. Negative. She was relieved. But Saturday morning, she received a call from a coworker who’d also received a negative result. This time the test was positive. Lulu retested. Positive. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated tested positive. Both suffered.

I say that not as a political statement or pro-vaccine statement. But to let you know, the Delta strain shows no partiality. It hits and hits hard. I watched my kid as she battled this sickness. And I also watched as she prepared to go back to the frontlines without hesitation. She is part of a group of heroes that need our daily prayers. Pray for the medical workers.

Now back to my original thought (if that’s even possible). As the days passed, songs would play in my head, encouraging me as I encouraged her. After a long sleepless night, she began texting me because it was hard for her to talk. She was tired and ready for it to be over. I texted her the following:

PARDON for sins and a PEACE that endureth

Thine own dear PRESENCE to CHEER and to GUIDE

STRENGTH for today and BRIGHT HOPE for tomorrow

BLESSINGS all mine with ten thousand besides

She immediately replied, “What is that from?”

I told her it was from the Friday morning playlist. Now, most of you reading those words will remember the song from my last post. But I confess, as a worship leader, I’ve always loved the second verse best. However, the third verse played in my head, or over me, during the days and nights of this battle. Every morning, we focused on the words, “Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.” Bright hope was our lifeline.

I’m still in awe of how the Lord led us through that week with songs of deliverance.

It’s taking time, but everyone is gaining their strength. Please pray for our heroes on the front lines. It takes courage to do what they’re doing.

In closing, I want to thank everyone for your prayers. If you were part of those praying for us on social media. Thank you so much. Your prayers were felt. The night I posted that request was the first night we all slept.

Thank you for your patience with my random posting. It has been an exhausting and blessed month.

If you’re in a battle, I pray the Lord will lay on your heart a song of deliverance. The following song was part of our playlist. Enjoy.

Do you have a go-to song when trouble comes knocking at your door?

Great Is Thy Faithfulness Thomas O. Chisholm (1923) Public Domain