Stormy Seas

Just a word of warning I'm dealing with a migraine (though it has eased up a bit for the time it took to write this post... now, it's returning), so this may or may not be coherent.

Two devotionals (they are short, and worth a read) from the blog, Inward/Outward, that I read have hit the nail on the head yesterday and today.

Yesterday's was titled, What Your Body Knows (by Patrice Vecchione). A portion of this short devotional really popped out at me:  "The body needs to relax to float. If you're stiff and afraid, the water will not hold you well and you'll flail and splash.... But if you have faith in the floating, faith in the water, alliances are made from that."

I have to say that I'm the one that either stiffens up or splashes and flails, in the midst of the storms of life. I don't relax / float well. I need to learn to trust more. To let go...

Today's is titled, First Lesson (by Phillip Booth). It is a great poem that fits how I'm feeling just perfectly. It ends with:

Remember when fear cramps your heart what I told you:
Lie gently and wide to the light-year stars,
Lie back and the sea will hold you.

The poem says to relax and lean back, allowing the sea to hold you. "A dead man's float is face down," but we are told to lie face-up in the midst of fear because we "will dive and swim soon enough."

When we find ourselves in the midst of stormy seas, the last thing we think to do is to relax. We instinctively tense up and fight against the waves... easily being overtaken with anxiety and fear. But, we can take refuge by anchoring ourselves to the solid rock of God.

I hear the tumult of the raging seas
as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life. 
Psalms 42:7-8 (NLT)

Our faith anchors our souls to the solid rock of God, so that, no matter what happens, our God will continue to provide for us (in His way and His time). "... Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary" (Hebrews 6:18-19, NLT).

So, regardless of how sunny or stormy our life may be, we are to "...trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge" (Psalms 62:8, NLT).

Okay, I'm signing off (for real, this time) because this migraine is worsening. I'm grateful I had the ability and short-term, minor relief to be able to write this post (regardless of how coherent it actually is). I'm holding the words of these devotionals and scripture close...

Migraine Pattern

I know I've been absent from the blog-o-sphere lately. I guess I just needed a break from it.

I've been dealing with my migraine pattern changing, yet again. After I had my neurostimulator implanted (December 2010), my migraines started coming in a new pattern, where I would have a chunk of "good" days and then a chunk of really bad days. My good days have progressively gotten better, but they seem to be random. The bad days are just as bad and frequent, but now they're coming one or two days at a time. So, I may have a good day, followed by a horrible day, followed by a day or two of migraine hangover / postdrome / recovery. So, it makes for an extremely bumpy ride.

It's taken me a few days to get this post written. Of course, just before I get it posted, the above-mentioned migraine pattern change was proven not to be lasting. I'm on day 3 of this migraine (I took my meds on day 1, and can't take any more until at least tomorrow because I've maxed out the days I can use it this week... not hard when the max is only 2), so I'm only online long enough to get this posted (I'm sick of having all of these "almost finished" posts hanging over my head). So, hopefully this one will pass soon, and I can return to both real life and the blogging world...