Thoughts from a Child's Mind

They told me it was just migraines...

It's been almost two months since my symptoms started happening, and I don't know exactly what to make of it.

Eye pain, vomiting, headaches, neck stiffness, weakness... paralysis on one side of my body... trouble breathing...

And perfect one paper.

MRIs, CTs, EEGs, and 32 blood tests ruling out nameless, unspeakable fears - meningitis? ALS? multiple sclerosis? stroke? West Nile? ...Cancer? All officially ruled out (with much praise!) and no answers to take their place.

"Ma'am have you been feeling stressed?" "Is that really as hard as you can squeeze?" "....you DROVE here?" *shuffled paperwork and hushed voices. A quick glance over to make sure I'm not listening too closely. Worried looks from doctors that I've known and worked with in my own ICU. Forced levity from my co-workers who've come to visit me.*

What's wrong with me? My God only knows.



In all this, I cannot be grateful enough for my church.

It's a small church, with lots of college age kids, a lot of grown ups that weren't college kids so long ago, and a handful of gruff middle age and older adults that don't know how to tell you they love you except to demand that you take it easy - it's 'cause they care.

In the last two weeks, my pastor has providentially started a sermon series called "Psalms of Lament: Finding God in the Dark Places".

How good is of God to not have left me devoid of hope, but given me comfort even among my own congregation!

The tenant of this theme regards the honest worship of believers who cry out to God and praise him, while still is despair.

For crying out to God to save you in the dark places depicts an accurate perception of God, namely - that he is one who saves.

Similarly, as we would not chasten a child who hesitantly asks, "Do you still love me?" when he has been punished by his parents, neither should we chasten believers who ask the same thing of God.

Honest praise and honest worship begin when we ask God the hard questions with full faith in knowing He is big enough to answer them.

Whether directly or indirectly, our God WILL give us resolution, even if it merely comes as peace in tribulation.

As fellow believers, it is our duty to bear one another up and remind one another about the true attributes of God, just as our own parents would remind us as children, "Of course we love you, it's why we do this".




I may not know much about God, but I know two things:

1). My God is God. He is sovereign and in control over all things. ALL things. Sickness, pain, hurting, fear, my car being stolen, my new car's engine blowing up, lack of autonomy, lack of a working income, inability to drive, inability to walk without help, feeling weak... how the list of my troubles seems so great until I put them in perspective of a greater God.

2). My God is Good. He who IS love, is also the God who saves, protects, succours, shepherds, provides, and .... heals. And he is the God who also, in his perfect wisdom, doesn't heal.

It is a strong and comforting revelation that men in the Bible far more righteous than I, suffered under the hand of my same great God, and declared him righteous though the end seemed bleak. [Glance briefly through Hebrews 11 and Job 1-2].

LORD may I but be like Job, like Daniel, like Samuel, like David, like Nehemiah, like Esther and Ruth, and like other modern and ancient saints too many to count, who have suffered greater sorrows, been tempted and tried in more dire circumstances, been slain, destitute, and acted as wanderers in ways far greater than I can imagine, and endured far greater trials than I can comprehend, and YET, through faith they were declared righteous before my same great God.

They endured. May I please be given the grace to do the same.




"But without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." - Hebrews 11:6 

So, my beloved 1991 Toyota Camry was stolen outside my apartment complex this last week. 

Stolen. gone. not present. and yes, locked. I was actually surprised during the aftermath to realize how unnerving and violating it is to have someone take something from you that you thought was safe. 

After watching the surveillance video 7 or 8 times (thanks for nothing security camera) and watching with such chilling ease how the thief strolled over to my car and got in and drove away in under 15 seconds - believe me, I counted - it sort of breaks all trust in one's sense of security in this world. 

I even had nightmares the next two nights of the people coming back for more or me finding my car only to have it stolen again. Silly and childish? I'm sure. Have I even mentioned that growing up is hard? 

The police told me that if the car wasn't found in the first 48 hours, there was almost no chance that it would be found again. Well, it has been 123 hours and 58 minutes and still no sign of any hope of its return on the horizon. 

My first thought when I realized my bereft state was "Oh God, please no. I need my car, how will I get to work tomorrow?" However, as time went on, the LORD has given me perspective. I am grieved, there is no doubting. I loved my car, and there were items in it that I will never get back, or be able to replace the memories I've had in it. 

But 

God, who is rich in mercy has given me hope. 

Two things that I realized how blessed I was this week in having car stolen were:

Firstly, however disappointing it was to spend the same amount of money as a plane ticket home to Texas as to rent transportation for the next week a half, and have to be burdened with the worry about trying to find a new car, I am grateful that I the LORD has given me a stable enough job to have the resources to do so - or at least not end up hopelessly in debt. 

Secondly, it reminded me how transient this life is and how quickly the LORD can give and take away.  

There have been a few verses that I've been meditating on that have really helped to bring me joy and comfort this week. Namely:

"I will bless the LORD at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD, let the humble hear and be glad! O magnify the LORD with me, let us exalt his name together!" - Psalm 34:1-3 

As unforeseen and grievous as having my car stolen seems, I want to continue to remind myself of God's sovereignty and bless the LORD in the good times and the bad.

In the undergraduate, and now master's of nursing program that I am in, the course material requires the students every few semesters to present a small snippet of who we are; our lifestyles, our passions, and our driving factors that affect our decisions and everyday lives. The title of the assignment is "Who Am I?" and requires a visual or artistic rendering of the answer.

Since the admission to my undergraduate school, my story, although it's telling has taken many forms over the years, remains a simple one:

The Felder Girls 2001

I am the second oldest of a family with five daughters; no boys. I was raised in a safe, loving, God-centered, and Christ-filled home. Though never rich, the LORD never allowed us to know lack or hunger, and through a multitude of blessings and miracles, his hand was ever evident in the lives of my family. When I was sixteen, my family went to Bangkok, Thailand to teach english at a student center for two months.

 It was there that I met her.

Her name was Gift. She was a bright, sunny fourteen year-old girl who was always eager to learn, and listened intently to all that would teach her. Intrigued by her unusual name, I called Gift over after class one day and, through the use of an interpreter, asked her about the origin of her name.


Gift explained that when she was eleven, in a time of financial crisis, her family sold her to be a prostitute, and for three years she knew the hands of many men. One day an American missionary couple came to her and told her about Jesus, the one that could free her from more than her owners, but also of her sin. They asked her if she wanted to leave her situation and come with them, and Gift readily agreed. The missionaries not only bought Gift from her owners, but also were paying for her to learn english in order to obtain a trade where she would never have to sell herself again.  Gift struggled to explain in her own broken english that she felt as though God had given her so much "happy" coming to know His grace and the missionaries she lived with, she felt as though her second chance at life was a Gift.

While reading Hebrews chapter two this morning, I came across the word "succour" in verse 18 in my King James Bible. While I have been a fervent advocate of my favorite translation and have been reading the KJV since I was a child, I realized that I had never fully understood the meaning of this term, and therefore set out to seek guidance from my Oxford American Dictionary.

It means: "Succour (v.) - To give assistance or aid to."

Upon further investigation, I found that the English word was of Latin origin (although the use of Strong's concordance relates it further back to the Greek word  βοηθέω) and associates it with the word Succursus or Succerrere, which literally means "to run to the aid of."

Applying the meaning from the word its origin, the verse I was reading (Heb. 2:18) says "For in that he [Jesus] hath suffered being tempted, he is able to run to the aid of [succour] them that are tempted."

Though this seems like such a little comment, I find it such powerful imagery to think that our LORD God  incarnate, Savior of the world, "Runs to our aid" when we are tempted. Praise our dread and sovereign God! By whom he will allow nothing to tempt us more than we can bear, and sent to us one who can free us from the chains that hold us captive.

While assisting in the pre-k Sunday school class yesterday, we talked about how God punishes us because he loves us. The teacher asked the children if they had ever been put in time-out for doing something wrong. One little boy raised his hand and said, "Yes! But only once." Impressed, the teacher answered, "Well, you must have really learned your lesson," to which the little boy replied, "No, I just learned my Bible."

What theology God allows children to teach us!

http://vimeo.com/9796056