Queenies Little Kingdom

I'm blogging from the road.  My hubby & I are on an adventure with our girls.  We're heading to Chicago for a few days.  The girls have tickets to see Ellie Goulding.  She's a famous British female performer and this is her closest concert in America.  It's part of their Christmas.  According to them (back before Santa came), this concert/trip….was/is ALL THEY WANTED!!

Who can say no?  They know every song the girl sings and love her classy British style.

I think it's safe to say that I've traveled through the world's thickest fog.  On our way north, tonight….the fog was solid in front of our car.  It's a good thing we had a stopping point.  We're staying the night in Remington at the Hageman's.  We made it here just in time.  My eyes were bugging out of my head trying to see what I couldn't see through the dense fog.

Thank you, Hageman's!  We love your apartment/barn!  Not only is it beautiful…..it's also a fun place to park it for the night with some fun kids along!

Did I mention Brandon?  He lives in Chicago and snagged a ride back with us.  Poor guy.  He's been sneezing his head off and feeling miserable all day AND still managed to put up with all the Galloway girl bossing around.  Trust me….they're bossy!  (like their dad!)

It's time to put on pj's and relax.  Once we get up tomorrow and hit the road it will be non-stop go and after the Monday that I've had, I need some recup time.  I think the Florida jet-lag has finally hit me.  I couldn't get the lead out all day.  I even sat in chewing gum and had a kid argue with me in the lunch line after he cut in line.

Good times.

Or maybe I should say…..goodbye troubles, hello fun road trip!  Look out Chicago, here we come!

I feel like my journey has been a long one.  Before I even left the airport in Indy…..I had to plug in and charge up.

Once I arrived in Ft. Myers, my favorite cousin picked me up and took me to her house.  This is Delilah, she became my new best friend.

I've always been around guns.  Growing up my family hunted just about everything we ate and then I married a policeman who had guns.

I wasn't expecting to walk into a construction site at my mother's house.  But….I did.  A toilet replacement turned into a bathroom floor and more.  It's almost complete…

After the massive heart attack….I tried to sleep here in the ICU waiting room.  Worst night ever.  Don't do it.

But the morning came and God blessed me with this view.  It was surreal after all I had experienced.

I have no makeup on and I don't even mind you knowing it.  I felt joy.  Real joy that only comes from Christ.  And….a nice lady at the Estee Lauder counter had moisturized my skin and filled my heart.  Remember?

My constant view in ICU.

A better position to see my patient in….once she was released from ICU and put in a regular room.

Walking in the cool sand on my trip to see the sunset.  I was trying to refuel my heart tank and it worked.  I just wished my hubby was with me.

Dinner.  Alone.  At least it was good, right?

No joke, this gal was at least 93.  I stopped to eat a salad at Sweet Tomatoes and this is what I had to look at while slurping down my clam chowder.  Geez, mamaw!  Skippy the short shorts.

My morning trips consist of a long prairie to cross.  I often follow something with a trailer behind it.  Oranges are being picked here and today….this is who I followed for 50 miles.  Awesome!  They even passed a pickup truck pulling a trailer.  BOTH SEMIS!

My hubby sent me a message that it is 8 degrees at our house in Indiana.  I had to tease my family and send them this—>

Beautiful and 70 degrees here.

And last….my patient who wants to bust out of here.  She told the nurse if something didn't happen soon, she was walking out.

See….what I see.

It's amazing to me how the word I've chosen for myself this year is popping up at every opportunity in my life.

I'm going to just fall face down and admit……it's all God doing it!  I am so good at running.  I bob & weave whatever gets in my path that I wish to avoid.  I recognize my need for constant reminders and obviously, so does the Lord.

G R A C E

I need it and I certainly need to give it away!  This week has been the grace test of all grace tests.  Every little inconvenience pushed me to the edge and trust me, there have been many.  Repeatedly, I caught myself grumbling and feeling anything but  G R A C E .   Darn it flesh!

On my way to the hospital (it's over an hour drive each way) I caught a sermon on the radio.  The topic?  Grace!  Oh the irony, right?  Instead of clicking the station away, I stuck with it and listened as the Lord gently reminded me just how important it is to live with grace.  

The challenges of caring for someone teetering back & forth with multiple health issues can be daunting.  Mix that with an abusive past and a cantankerous personality and it's even worse than daunting!  Again, I cling to my own undeserved blanket of grace and beg God to wipe my complaining heart clean so I can get back to giving what is needed most.

None of us our worthy.

"I have decided to stick with love.  Hate is too great a burden to bear."  Martin Luther King Jr.

Gracious God

Your love for me is a constant reminder that BECAUSE OF YOU I am saved by grace.  You offer it freely and give me the same opportunity everyday.  Thank you.  Help me live a life of grace & love and show me (no matter how painful) when I fall short.

Amen

I've been missing for good reason.  My mother had lung surgery one week ago today.  The plan was for me to wait to fly down south until she was released from the hospital.   When I arrived on Wednesday, she was still in the hospital and experiencing horrible pain.  On my way back into see her on Thursday morning, the doctor called to say she had a heart attack and was in surgery.

I was just down the street from the hospital at that point.  Which is a good thing when you get news like that.  I was able to be there in the cardiac emergency waiting room while she was undergoing lifesaving surgery.  The doctor took her time explaining to me just how dire the situation was and I felt relieved when she told me the part about her coding twice and how they brought her back to life both times.

Hello, reality!  I'm right here….listening!

The rest of the day was a total blur.  I was sent to this waiting room and then to that waiting room.  Then I was allowed to go into ICU with her and help her until she reached a point of medicated delerium.  I didn't feel comfortable driving all the way back to her house while she was teetering on the edge in every way….so I parked my homeless self in the ICU waiting room for the night.

I'll now be referring to that night as the night I almost checked myself into the hospital thanks to a deadly hormone headache that wouldn't let up.  I tried everything to find relief and at 2:15am I was still awake begging for some sort of mercy.  Finally, the Lord must have taken pity upon me and just zipped my eyeballs closed because the next thing I remember is waking up around 7:00am to slamming doors.  Ahh, home sweet waiting room!

And to the call of mother nature….whom has no mercy!  Even if you're living in a waiting room with your suitcase and almost dead cellphone battery.  But, my headache was gone.  Silver linings, y'all!  I consider it all joy…

I found a bathroom that I could take a sink bath in and brushed my teeth and hair.  I even changed clothes (the weather took a major change here — 40 degrees and windy).  So, I drove down to the beach, found a towel to sit on and GOT MY PRAISE ON!!  Because let me tell you…..if anyone had reason to praise God this morning, it was me!  Here's just a few reasons why I felt thankful->

1- He saved my mother from death.  Not once, but twice!

2- I was able to be there WHEN SHE NEEDED ME MOST!

3- My brother was able to be there, soon after.

4- Friends & family were TOTALLY LIFTING me up to God and His grace throughout the entire awful day.

5- I met a lady who ministered to me in the Estee Lauder dept. at Dillards.  She was sent directly by God.  She stopped me, sat me down, cleaned off my makeup and covered my face with love & moisturizer then she filled my soul with love and encouragement when I felt like a lost soul wandering around a strange town.  She hugged me when I left.

6- My kids kept sending me love & encouragement all day.

7- I was safe.

8- I was able to feel genuine peace.

God is working in so many ways….

This past week's firestorm controversy over Pastor Louie Giglio praying at President Obama's Inauguration has once again reminded me why NOT BEING IN MINISTRY isn't such a bad thing.  At first, the tweets and Facebook statuses were in support of Louie (of course, many still are) for a sermon he preached about 15+ years back on the issue of homosexuality.  Those calling him out for his "anti gay" sermon of course were spewing hate and calling for action immediately and still are.  The White House has tuck-tailed into "make the left happy" mode and assured the whiners complainers haters folks who call Pastor Giglio a bigot that they will find a suitable replacement, ie: someone who thinks like they do!  This is not the least bit shocking to me and if you've been around the liberal frenzied world as long as I have….it's probably no shock to you either.  However…

What really sets my heart on fire regarding this issue is the reaction of "some" fellow believers (Christians/Ministry Leaders/Seminary Dudes/People hiding behind words on Twitter & Blogs etc) who feel it's necessary to jump on the criticism bandwagon and tear a hole into Louie Giglio because these people had to SEARCH BACK 15+ YEARS to find a sermon of him preaching on the sin of homosexuality!  SERIOUSLY?  Come on, people!

This, this is what reminds me of how awful ministry life can be.  Just a week or so ago, Louie Giglio and his Passion 2013 team ministered to 60,000+ COLLEGE-AGED KIDS and together raised over 3.3 million dollars to fund ministry help for the 27 million victims trapped in human trafficking & slavery.  COLLEGE KIDS along with Louie Giglio and his ministry did that (in Jesus' name).  Let me remind you that raising the money and choosing to support that mission work was only the beginning.  This work is a revolution in saving lives and making a difference for Christ.  Hands and feet, work.

What does it say when fellow laborers in Christ lash out and blast leaders like Louie Giglio for NOT PREACHING on homosexuality often enough?  I'll tell ya!  It sends the message to the lost and dying world that even the BELIEVERS are twisted and mixed up and in need of forgiveness!  And, if given the opportunity….they will kick their own when they're down!

How sad!

I have sat under the teaching of Louie Giglio.  He is a man of God and he preaches the truth, NO MATTER THE TOPIC!  I am confident in his love for Christ and his desire to follow & obey God's word to the nth degree.  I don't give credence to one shameful word of criticism thrown in his direction by those who claim to love & follow God just as I don't those who are openly trapped in a homosexual lifestyle and are calling for him to be banned from the White House.  Both remind me….my work here is not finished!

Want to know who Louie Giglio is?

Go to Passion 2013

His church Passion City

His statement to his church family regarding this issue?  Change of Plans

What he believes?  Belief Statement

Father,

I pray for Pastor Giglio and his ministry to millions in Your Holy Name!  Thank you for his endless love for Your children and the platform with which he is able to make a difference in this world.  I stand in awe when I see just how powerful and far Your love can go from one man.  Help me to love like that.

Amen

Dr. R. Al Mohler's article on Baptist Press.  

Dr. Russell Moore's article.