Stressings and Blessings

This is the second week of 100 degree weather, and the garden is really suffering, even though I water it faithfully every day. Sometimes I water in the morning; but if I'm too busy, it has to wait till evening. The poor cucumbers look about dead during the hottest part of the day. But as soon as the sun starts to go down, they perk right up. The sun and heat are obviously quite stressful to plants.

I can sympathize with stress. My life has been marked with it almost from the start. Not as much as many, I'm sure. But I've had my share. A father with anger issues, a congenital deformity, an abusive husband on drugs, divorce, depression, cancer and deaths in the family, career loss, poverty-level living, and being a caregiver for a spouse with brain injury and dementia.

Fortunately though, I've had a God to keep me "watered" morning, noon, and night. I've needed it.  He's blessed me with a husband to love, a faithful daughter, son-in-law, and nephew to support me, and two adorable granddaughters to charm and entertain me. Let alone a house I'm in the process of owning, a car given to me by my father, and plenty of clothes and food. As a matter of fact, my watering cup runneth over. I'm perking right up like a cucumber, just thinking about the blessings. Who cares about stresses, when God blesses!

Healer of Body and Soul

Finally I get something to help with the inflammation of my foot from the injury almost three months ago. Just a topical gel, but I hope it does the trick. The foot is still puffy and hurts after all this time. The bone has healed nicely they say, but I suppose there's more to a foot than bone.

This leads me to a paradox I've been thinking about for a few days. When your life gets messed up, just like my foot did, what part do you work on first? The outward behaviors, the addictions and displays of anger and depression, or the inward stress, unforgiving spirit, and heartache that eat away at our inner peace and happiness?

It almost seems to me that both have to find relief. And the only way that can be done is to turn it all over to the one who specializes in all the parts that make us who we are. That would be God. The Healer of Body AND Soul. He not only takes away our symptoms, but He cures the disease that gave us those symptoms.

We need doctors. We need pastors. But most of all, we need a Savior. And we must give Him everything, all the parts of us, or else it's all a waste.