An Anniversary to Remember

On Saturday February 26th of 2011, my dear hubby of 25 years was admitted into the hospital with congestive heart failure. He had been suffering with diagnosed heart disease for over 10 years. He was on meds, all kinds of meds.
The hospital removed 20 pounds of fluid from his body over the course of 24 hours. He had no ankle swelling, it all pooled in his chest cavity and since he is italian, hey, he had the italian belly, you know the one you see when in brooklyn. WE had no idea.
The cardiologist came in on sunday morning and needless to say I stated that we cannot continue living like this. His strength over the past 2 years was decreasing, he wasn't sleeping well, he was getting depressed from all the meds and his mental state was not my wonderful hubby. "We need to do something!!!!" So he recommended us to the INOVA heart center, the specialist. The cardiologist did say that it may take some time to get an appointment. They called Monday morning with an appointment for Wednesday morning.
Wednesday morning, we met the "team". They looked at my hubby, the specialist said, "by looking at you, I can tell you've had this condition quite a long time, as a matter of fact longer that most people survive with it. Your on borrowed time. Your body is starting to starve from blood supply, you have a short time left. If you make it thru the next 2 months, I will be surprised". Yea, my mouth dropped.
God! He can reach down and touch the lives anyone He chooses to, at any time He chooses to do what He chooses. Since He is so perfect in Love, what He does is always the most perfect thing. We cannot in our limited human mind understand or even sometimes accept this Love. It is too great for us. Only when we will stand with Him in heaven(if we have accepted the gift of His Son's sacrifice) will we be able to understand. So for now, I trust Him in all areas of my life as well as the life of those whom I love. I have been witness to His miracles

Did God give us warnings? Proverbs 22:3

How many times have you gone past a rattlesnake and heard the sound of it's tail shake at you? OK so maybe you didn't "personally" walk past a snake, but you know, alot of those western movies had rattlesnakes in them. You would see that snake lift up his tail, and shake it at someone like the dickens. You know the inside of the snakes tail is a material just like our nails. God is incredible. In His creation, we see so many ways He used what he had already made somewhere else...ut oh, gonna get of subject. I do that a lot...bear with me. So the snake shakes his tail as a warning..."get away from me or I will bite you!" If he bites you, your in big trouble...you could DIE!. Do you go near that snake? NOOOOOOO! You head the warning and if you have half a brain you run. Run as far away as you can.

Proverbs 22:3 says" A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences." In the Bible(God's Word) there are many, many, many warnings of what could happen if you do not heed what He instructs. But do we follow them? Or do we just go along with the crowd, just like everyone else, like sheep being lead to the slaughter. When will we wake up and see that the ways of the world lead to destruction, but narrow is the way of the Lord. It's not a wide pathway, cause there are lots of "rattlesnakes". We need to walk, following the One who knows the Way, cause He can see farther down the path than we can.

We had an earthquake, less than 50 miles from our home this week. We never had an earthquake before and there was no warning. No damage to us or our loved ones or our home. Praise God. This weekend, the storm called "Irene" is scheduled to come this way. We have been warned, we prepared. Water, flashlights, food, generator, filled the tub with water (we have a well). We're ready.

God warned Pharoah of Egypt about a famine, He warned Pharoah to let His people go, He warned the Israilites...all the thru the book of Judges, we read how they did "what was right in their own eyes". That means they did not head what the Lord had told them of how to live a "good and prosperous life".

What warnings has the Lord given to you through His word or even through the consequences of what your friends are experiencing? Are you aware? Are you listening?

I was not raised in a Christian home. I am a first generation American Citizen. My parents were seperated when I was 2. I was infant baptized Ukranian Orthodox, educated Seventh Day Adventist, married by a Presbyterian pastor. I did not know the Lord or even understand His warnings. My parents did not teach me His ways.

My husband and I stood face to face in the 7th year of our marriage and promised to the Lord to raise His children by the Book...His Book. We are now married 26 years... That my friends is for another day.

May you seek the Word of God, follow His instructions and stay away from the ways of this world. God loves you, He sent His son Jesus, to die for your mess ups(sinns). You just need to recognize you are a sinner, ask God to forgive you and Jesus to be the Lord of your life. That is your first step. Pray! Let me know if you did that, I will be so happy. Shalom!