ClausBlog: Finding the Pearl in a Sandstorm

ClausBlog: Finding the Pearl in a Sandstorm: Out of tragedy Comes Triumph Several years ago a young woman suffered a major life setback which required months and months of recover...

Finding the Pearl in a Sandstorm

Out of tragedy Comes Triumph

Several years ago a young woman suffered a major life setback which required months and months of recovery and now a lifetime of chronic issues.  The first thought would be 'Why God?' but this was not the case.  In the midst of this trauma came friends and loved ones who spoke into the lives of both the woman and her family.  Meals appeared and cards from children ended up taped to the wall of her hospital room.  Her daughter was cared for by friends while the husband sat beside his wife for fifty days in the hospital. Three more visits to hospitals in the next nine months became the routine for this couple. 

Now, seven years later the tragedy which almost took her life has ended up with both a new zest for life and a ministry.  In a matter of a couple of weeks, the couple's four years of planning and strategizing will come to fruition in Santa Calls For You.  This business/ministry brings together the skills and gifts of both husband and wife and allows us the opportunity of returning into hospitals to show the same kind of love and compassion which had been shown years ago.  

The care of children in hospitals creates issues not associated with adults.  Children who are nervous may need sedation which creates a different set of problems.  From an article entitled, Calming kids' hospital anxieties, by Dr. James Callahan, he suggests a series of strategies to help children.  Santa Calls For You hopes to play a part in this by ministering to children "one smile at a time,"  

Years ago I read a Christian author whose name escapes me today who suggested that to truly heal from the tragedies of life is to find the pearl in the midst of the sandstorm. We have found that by looking at the needs of others, ours seem to pale in consideration.  We no longer are in a hospital facing an unknown future but a child is and with a visit by Santa and Mrs. Claus delivering a toy and love, we hope to show Christ's love in our ministry.

Please share in the joy and the hopes we have for this venture and know we appreciate your support and prayers.  

Moving Ain't So Bad

As I sit around my present home in preparation for moving, I find things which had come up missing in the past being packed away for transit.  The question is: did I really need it?

Many things in our lives come and go just as the days of the calendar and what seemed important to possess years ago became dust collectors of that era. Some of us were persuaded by the commercial on television to purchase an exercise machine which would have returned a youthful physique and stamina.  I dreamt of going from a twelve-pack abs to hopefully a six-pack but sadly the machine became a place for my clothes. One day I decided to unload it to someone who may have had the same hopes for his body as I had for mine.

Moving can also be a good thing.  God moves his children spiritually as well.  When the nation of Israel had gotten accustomed to being in one place, God told them they had been at this mountain to long. ( Deuteronmy  1:6) He wanted them to move and take the land in which He promised for their inheritance.  I guess the nation had just gotten a little bit comfortable.

Likewise, as Christians we get comfortable in our walk with the Lord and choose to sit down and refuse to move.  Sadly, God has an inheritance for us if we just get going!  This means we leave behind the things which had surrounded our lives to move to the place God has for us.  Thing like faithlessness, bitterness, envy, lying, and all the other junk are left behind so we can imitate His Son, Jesus.

In moving we might need a road map to get to the place we are going; God says he knows the plans he has for us.  Years ago there was a bumper sticker which said, "God is my co-pilot" but if we really want to go where He has for us we need to get out of our seats and let him drive.