Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Guard Your Heart

Proverbs 4:20-23 – My son pay attention to what I say, listen closely to my words.  Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are left to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.  Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

The wisdom we receive from our Heavenly Father is to be placed in our hearts where it will be forever.  We may try to ignore it but it will always be there.  The wicked will enter our lives and try to disrupt the way we think by creating self-doubt.  Our lives are not to be based on doubt and lies but on the word of God and the wisdom we receive from Him.

I have been under attack because of my belief this past week.  I didn’t ask for the attack but was chosen by God to be a warrior for Him.  God gave me wisdom even before the attack and I relied upon it and I asked for more wisdom during the attack.  If the evil choose not to listen – walk away from them (this is Godly wisdom).  Pray for them that they will have their eyes opened and find Jesus.  But, first and foremost GUARD YOUR HEART.


Father God, thank you for giving me the wisdom I need to handle this difficult and awkward situation.  Your word is clear on how believers are to handle attacks.  May I never be found without the full armor of God and may I never cease to pray for divine wisdom.

Enjoy your day and enjoy the flowers.


Friday, June 19, 2015

Happy Feet and High Fives

Most of you have probably seen the Crestor commercial on tv – the one where the woman leaves the doctor’s office dancing and giving everyone high fives.  Well, that was me early today when I left the doctor’s office.  I even let out a ‘Yes, Lord’ while I was in the restroom (didn’t realize there was someone in the other stall, she just laughed and congratulated me).  When I walked out of the building I was singing and Bob was waiting at the door to give me a high five.
  
Dr. Chakka said that my EKG was perfect and when I told him that I have been off heart meds for 10 days he said it was really perfect.  He could not believe that I was already off meds and doing so well.  We talked for a long time about the surgery, doctor and the hospital in Austin.  He does like sending his patients away for treatment.  He would rather keep them close and treat them himself.  But it all boils down to funding.  He has seen the mapping equipment at St. David’s and it cost $2,000,000 and they have eight of them.  He feels that St. Vincent’s could become a viable competitor in the cardio surgery, if the funds were available.  He is going to request for the St. Vincent’s chef to go to St. David’s and observe how they handle their heart diet food to make it so good.  Did you know that Arkansas is 49th in payback for Medicare in the United States?  It is based on per capita income and that puts at the bottom of the heap.  This isn’t fair to the people of Arkansas but that is mandated by Washington.  Okay, I’m off my soap box.

I really don’t know who was more excited today Dr. Chakka or me.  He looked at my records and the first attempted ablation was eight years ago and technology has changed so much that what aborted the ablation would be dismissed today.  He has been inside my heart three times and each time was different.  He wants to see me in nine months just to see how I am doing and after my appointment and tests in November.  After that once a year check ups.

On the way to Little Rock, Bob and I were talking about how many trips to Little Rock we had made in the last 15 years and they were too many to count because some were weekly at one time.  And the amount of money spent on medications, we could go on a really, really good vacation for at least a month.

God is so good and I am a walking, talking, breathing, praising the Lord proof that He is not just good some of the time but all of the time.

Enjoy the rest of your day and take time to enjoy all that God has created.




Thursday, June 18, 2015

Experiencing God's Extraordinary Grace, Part 2

521 Day of Experiencing God’s Extraordinary Grace. 

I have been off FB for six weeks while recuperating from my third heart ablation in sixteen months.  I want to thank all of you for your prayers, cards, calls and so many acts of kindness during this last procedure.

You may not know but I was referred to Dr. John Burkhardt at the Texas Arrhythmia Center in Austin, Texas for treatment.  On May 8th I underwent the third ablation and from all indications this one was successful.  I was taken off one of my medications when I left the hospital and last Wednesday the one remaining heart medication was taken away.  I have been on heart medications (some of them were heavy duty) for over fifteen years.  No more heart meds.  Can I hear a ‘Praise the Lord’?  The only remaining medication is Eliquis and that is a blood thinner.  If everything goes as planned I will be taken off this med in November.  My heart has to heal completely before they will remove it. 

As of today, it has 521 days since the battle of my heart began.  You can go to my website www.heartandhomeministry.com and go to the very first post to read about the beginning of this journey.  It has indeed been a journey and God has been with me and continues to be with me as my guide and anchor.  He was Dr. Burkhardt’s guide when He stopped my heart from beating so they could find the source of the problem. Dr. Burkhardt told me he had never had that happen before.  I do know they gave me a pretty hard shock to re-start my heart because the burn marks were pretty bad. 

I have an appointment with my cardiologist in Little Rock tomorrow for my six week check-up and I am excited for him to see the EKG and listen to my new heart beat.  I know he will be as excited as we are.