Against the Odds
LIFE
When I was five I was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder and you can say that the doctors had the odds stacked against me. They told Mum and Dad I wouldn't be likely to succeed at anything other than having a comfortable life. I would never be independent, I would never be a great communicator and my reading and writing level would be grade three at best, I would never reach the mental maturity for my age group or enjoy having a husband and children. But here I am today, at twenty-seven years old, for the foreseeable future I have a stable income, I am reading and writing literature, I have mastered the necessary life-skills to thrive in this day and age, and I am planning a future with the man I love.
So if you have the odds stacked against you, it's okay - be proud of it, because it's a testimony of how far you have come and how far you are yet to go. A friend of mine once told me that if you've got the devil on your tail, it means you have an amazing destiny that he wants to see go to waste.
I can definitely agree with that, the ole sour-puss is mean at any one time but there are times when he goes for gold and sometimes it feels like he succeeds - and then God steps in - first He reaches out to us, then he starts fixing and mending those crumbling dreams, those broken relationships and while he does that, he gives us the strength and resilience to heal the scars on our hearts. It's a labour of time, strength, love and patience - but that is the foundation we use to start again.
Three years ago, the devil had got me really good - laying me low with Depression and Anxiety - and I wondered why God was punishing me and when I was seeking answers, I read the book of Job.
Job was a respectable, affluent man in his community who fell on hard times, he lost everything - his family, most of his friends and his wealth. Satan did all of this - expecting Job to turn against God - and he very nearly did - if it wasn't for a young man named Elihu who told the truth the way it needed to be said, with firm directness and compassion. Elihu was young, but he knew God better than the two older men who tried to give Job bad counsel. Which goes to show that when we are vulnerable, we need to listen to friends who will tell us the truth. Job confessed and repented to God, apologising for the way that he had thought about God in those moments when it felt like God had not been with him - and in doing that, Job had given God power back over his life and God gave Job everything that he had, plus some.
Job 42:12: And God blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. He had seven sons and three daugthers. And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah and the name of the third Keren-huppuch. And in all the land there were no women so beautiful and Job's daugthers. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his son's sons, four generations. And Job died, an old man, and full of days.
LOVE
You know just how much gumption your loved one has when they preside over your sickroom with a firm but gentle hand and make you yummy dinners. What's more, they don't make you wash the dishes that are stacking high in the sink and they don't take you seriously when you growl at them.
Last Friday night I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed in search of water and medicine. My mouth was dry, my throat is burning and my hair was too low-brow to mention.
I walk out into the living room which is just off the kitchen and A. is watching Southpark.
"What are you doing?" He asks curiously. He had asked me that five times already on different occasions.
"What else could I be doing other than getting medicine?!" I snap at him.
"Getting water?" He dead-pans and then quickly adds. "Sorry."
Smarty-pants aside, the guy is helluva a nurse and now that I'm better - I'm his clown, this week has been a bit rough for A. Job hunting in this economical climate is discouraging and draining to say the least. But that's just the season we are in and we've just got to let it run it's course because as long as there is a sun, better days will come.
& THE EVERYDAY
It's the first real rainy day Brisbane has had in a while, most of the time it's sun-showers but today we've got wind, bluster and non-stopping rain judging by the look of the sky today.
I'm lying on my side in bed, writing this blog and watching all that beautiful rain beat down on the palm trees outside my window. Speaking of rain, I listened to this song called Rain Is A Good Thing by Luke Bryan - you've gotta listen to it at least once because the guy is singing about having a good time with his buddies and their honeys on a rainy night with whisky- it doesn't hurt that Luke Bryan is easy on the eyes - think Stephen Peacocke kinda hot - so ladies, ditch the house chores for half an hour just to watch Luke Bryan music videos and I swear, the day will feel a lot warmer!
You are all probably wondering how my "Hands Off" approach to the future is going - well yesterday I slipped up a little - I think it's because I spent two hours in the nursery at work yesterday and all those babies just have a way of making me clucky!
I'd better let you all get back to your drowsy Saturday morning - chances are my honey is going to want his breakfast soon! Last night A. hinted a couple of times how much he loves pancakes on a Saturday morning. Ah! The things we do for love!
Stay dry!
- Sarah xx
When I was five I was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder and you can say that the doctors had the odds stacked against me. They told Mum and Dad I wouldn't be likely to succeed at anything other than having a comfortable life. I would never be independent, I would never be a great communicator and my reading and writing level would be grade three at best, I would never reach the mental maturity for my age group or enjoy having a husband and children. But here I am today, at twenty-seven years old, for the foreseeable future I have a stable income, I am reading and writing literature, I have mastered the necessary life-skills to thrive in this day and age, and I am planning a future with the man I love.
So if you have the odds stacked against you, it's okay - be proud of it, because it's a testimony of how far you have come and how far you are yet to go. A friend of mine once told me that if you've got the devil on your tail, it means you have an amazing destiny that he wants to see go to waste.
I can definitely agree with that, the ole sour-puss is mean at any one time but there are times when he goes for gold and sometimes it feels like he succeeds - and then God steps in - first He reaches out to us, then he starts fixing and mending those crumbling dreams, those broken relationships and while he does that, he gives us the strength and resilience to heal the scars on our hearts. It's a labour of time, strength, love and patience - but that is the foundation we use to start again.
Three years ago, the devil had got me really good - laying me low with Depression and Anxiety - and I wondered why God was punishing me and when I was seeking answers, I read the book of Job.
Job was a respectable, affluent man in his community who fell on hard times, he lost everything - his family, most of his friends and his wealth. Satan did all of this - expecting Job to turn against God - and he very nearly did - if it wasn't for a young man named Elihu who told the truth the way it needed to be said, with firm directness and compassion. Elihu was young, but he knew God better than the two older men who tried to give Job bad counsel. Which goes to show that when we are vulnerable, we need to listen to friends who will tell us the truth. Job confessed and repented to God, apologising for the way that he had thought about God in those moments when it felt like God had not been with him - and in doing that, Job had given God power back over his life and God gave Job everything that he had, plus some.
Job 42:12: And God blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. He had seven sons and three daugthers. And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah and the name of the third Keren-huppuch. And in all the land there were no women so beautiful and Job's daugthers. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his son's sons, four generations. And Job died, an old man, and full of days.
LOVE
You know just how much gumption your loved one has when they preside over your sickroom with a firm but gentle hand and make you yummy dinners. What's more, they don't make you wash the dishes that are stacking high in the sink and they don't take you seriously when you growl at them.
Last Friday night I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed in search of water and medicine. My mouth was dry, my throat is burning and my hair was too low-brow to mention.
I walk out into the living room which is just off the kitchen and A. is watching Southpark.
"What are you doing?" He asks curiously. He had asked me that five times already on different occasions.
"What else could I be doing other than getting medicine?!" I snap at him.
"Getting water?" He dead-pans and then quickly adds. "Sorry."
Smarty-pants aside, the guy is helluva a nurse and now that I'm better - I'm his clown, this week has been a bit rough for A. Job hunting in this economical climate is discouraging and draining to say the least. But that's just the season we are in and we've just got to let it run it's course because as long as there is a sun, better days will come.
& THE EVERYDAY
It's the first real rainy day Brisbane has had in a while, most of the time it's sun-showers but today we've got wind, bluster and non-stopping rain judging by the look of the sky today.
I'm lying on my side in bed, writing this blog and watching all that beautiful rain beat down on the palm trees outside my window. Speaking of rain, I listened to this song called Rain Is A Good Thing by Luke Bryan - you've gotta listen to it at least once because the guy is singing about having a good time with his buddies and their honeys on a rainy night with whisky- it doesn't hurt that Luke Bryan is easy on the eyes - think Stephen Peacocke kinda hot - so ladies, ditch the house chores for half an hour just to watch Luke Bryan music videos and I swear, the day will feel a lot warmer!
You are all probably wondering how my "Hands Off" approach to the future is going - well yesterday I slipped up a little - I think it's because I spent two hours in the nursery at work yesterday and all those babies just have a way of making me clucky!
I'd better let you all get back to your drowsy Saturday morning - chances are my honey is going to want his breakfast soon! Last night A. hinted a couple of times how much he loves pancakes on a Saturday morning. Ah! The things we do for love!
Stay dry!
- Sarah xx
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