Mar. 10, 2006 - Hard Lessons From the Past...
Hello friends!
My, my... I've been a bit behind in updating this, haven't I?
So sorry! Life has just been wonderfully busy and full these days! I don't think I've told you all, but I'm actually enrolled in a few college classes this semester and I have really been enjoying going back to school! 
This has always been something I've longed to do, but the Lord has never opened the doors until now.
You see, my junior and senior year of highschool I went through an enormous amount of health struggles, some of which included 6 different surgeries on both of my hands and elbows due to nerve entrapment. Yes, it was caused by everyone's favorite friend.... Good ol' Mr. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!
I had hoped and dreamed about going on to a university after higschool on a music scholarship so that I could pursue my piano-playing and composing. But, God had different plans!
I was just glancing over the last chapter in the study I wrote for young women about the future and how God works in mysterious ways sometimes. Here is some of what I wrote nearly four years ago regarding the great lessons the Lord taught me through this hard time of my life:
This was a test of my priorities. When something I loved dearly was taken away, would I cling to it rather than to God? Was I truly playing this music to have others look at the Lord, or at me? How often had the words “I,” “me,” or “mine” sprung to my lips? It had been about myself and so sadly, I had lost my focus on God.
I fell on my face and cried for forgiveness to the Lord! I hadn't respond like Abraham who when asked to sacrifice his only son to the Lord, meekly answered in submission. Here I was begging the Lord not to take away this one thing that was so dear to me away! And what happened to Abraham in the end? God spared his son because he obeyed, and was willing to sacrifice a beloved treasure (his son) for His Lord (see Genesis 22).
...Through my little testing, the Lord has shown me so many blessings that are too numerous to count! Yes, my hands are still in pain, and yes I’m unable to play the piano like I used to. But, you know what? It doesn’t matter now! Jesus is my song! If I’m never able to play that song on the piano again, then I will just keep singing it in my heart until Jesus calls me to be with Him! I may never know exactly why God decided to remove something that I loved so dearly, but I am willing to never play again, as long as my Lord is here right beside me all the way."
(Excerpts taken from What Every Girl Should Know: AStudy in Love, Life and Faith - pages: 116, 117)
Reading this brought back all of those old feelings of helplessness as I struggled to find what it was that God wanted me to do, if it wasn't to be a concert pianist. I remember well the day that I sat down on the floor in my closet and buried my face in my hands. Weeping my little heart out, I finally surrended. I surrendered it all over to my Lord and Savior. I gave HIM my sad little beat up carpal-tunneld hands, my lifelong dream to play the piano, and my scary, unknown future. What a difficult time it was for me, but what a beautiful thing happened in my heart and life!
Because I was so limited in what I was able to do with my hands and arms for quite a while, I did not go right into college after highschool. I chose to apply myself wholeheartedly into discovering what specifically God had in mind for my life, through work and various kinds of ministries I could be involved in. He gave me such a freedom and a joy as I threw myself into His work! Excitingly, as I was going about this work, the Lord gave me a life-changing opportunity...
A dear woman of the Lord approached me about teaching at a local homeschool ministry that she and her husband were starting in the area. She told me of her idea to have a girl's class on all the things young women should know these days. It took a little convincing on her part and a lot of prayer on mine, but in the end I agreed to teach the class. Lo and behold, the material from that class grew into the workbook that I was later able to publish, and which launched me into the speaking, teaching and writing ministry I now have the joy of being involved with!
The Lord had to close one door back in highschool so he could open a new door! That has enabled me to actively live out His calling in my life, which is to reach out to and encourage those who are hurting and are in need of help.
What an awesome God we serve!! I cannot begin to say how grateful I am to the Lord and for what He has done in my life...
What about you, my friend? What struggles has the Lord allowed in your life that have impacted you in a powerful way? How have they shaped you (in a postive way) into the person you are today? Whatever you have been through, or whatever you are currently going through, I hope you know that our Savior loves you and can be trusted 1,000%. I pray that He will do His work in your life and that you will be comforted and encouraged by the knowledge that He "considers your trouble and knows your soul in adversities" (Psalm 31:7).
My, my... I've been a bit behind in updating this, haven't I?
So sorry! Life has just been wonderfully busy and full these days! I don't think I've told you all, but I'm actually enrolled in a few college classes this semester and I have really been enjoying going back to school! This has always been something I've longed to do, but the Lord has never opened the doors until now. You see, my junior and senior year of highschool I went through an enormous amount of health struggles, some of which included 6 different surgeries on both of my hands and elbows due to nerve entrapment. Yes, it was caused by everyone's favorite friend.... Good ol' Mr. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!
I had hoped and dreamed about going on to a university after higschool on a music scholarship so that I could pursue my piano-playing and composing. But, God had different plans! I was just glancing over the last chapter in the study I wrote for young women about the future and how God works in mysterious ways sometimes. Here is some of what I wrote nearly four years ago regarding the great lessons the Lord taught me through this hard time of my life:
"...I began to wonder if I had taken a few things for granted. Perhaps I had been a little hasty in planning my entire life [of being a concert pianist]. Oh yeah, and maybe I had forgotten the One who should be receiving all the glory from my accomplishments. And yes, maybe I had been a tad bit prideful in boasting in my own talent. Not just maybe, but definitely!
Oh, I saw it so clearly then! This was a test. A test that I had failed! From day one I had been playing for my own reward, all the time thinking I was really glorifying God. Granted, there were those times when I got up to perform that my heart really wanted God to be glorified, but my general attitude was that of pride. I had fooled myself and everyone else into thinking that my heart was pure before the Lord.
Oh, I saw it so clearly then! This was a test. A test that I had failed! From day one I had been playing for my own reward, all the time thinking I was really glorifying God. Granted, there were those times when I got up to perform that my heart really wanted God to be glorified, but my general attitude was that of pride. I had fooled myself and everyone else into thinking that my heart was pure before the Lord.
…I saw now, it wasn’t.
This was a test of my priorities. When something I loved dearly was taken away, would I cling to it rather than to God? Was I truly playing this music to have others look at the Lord, or at me? How often had the words “I,” “me,” or “mine” sprung to my lips? It had been about myself and so sadly, I had lost my focus on God.
I fell on my face and cried for forgiveness to the Lord! I hadn't respond like Abraham who when asked to sacrifice his only son to the Lord, meekly answered in submission. Here I was begging the Lord not to take away this one thing that was so dear to me away! And what happened to Abraham in the end? God spared his son because he obeyed, and was willing to sacrifice a beloved treasure (his son) for His Lord (see Genesis 22).
...Through my little testing, the Lord has shown me so many blessings that are too numerous to count! Yes, my hands are still in pain, and yes I’m unable to play the piano like I used to. But, you know what? It doesn’t matter now! Jesus is my song! If I’m never able to play that song on the piano again, then I will just keep singing it in my heart until Jesus calls me to be with Him! I may never know exactly why God decided to remove something that I loved so dearly, but I am willing to never play again, as long as my Lord is here right beside me all the way."
(Excerpts taken from What Every Girl Should Know: AStudy in Love, Life and Faith - pages: 116, 117)
Reading this brought back all of those old feelings of helplessness as I struggled to find what it was that God wanted me to do, if it wasn't to be a concert pianist. I remember well the day that I sat down on the floor in my closet and buried my face in my hands. Weeping my little heart out, I finally surrended. I surrendered it all over to my Lord and Savior. I gave HIM my sad little beat up carpal-tunneld hands, my lifelong dream to play the piano, and my scary, unknown future. What a difficult time it was for me, but what a beautiful thing happened in my heart and life!
Because I was so limited in what I was able to do with my hands and arms for quite a while, I did not go right into college after highschool. I chose to apply myself wholeheartedly into discovering what specifically God had in mind for my life, through work and various kinds of ministries I could be involved in. He gave me such a freedom and a joy as I threw myself into His work! Excitingly, as I was going about this work, the Lord gave me a life-changing opportunity...
A dear woman of the Lord approached me about teaching at a local homeschool ministry that she and her husband were starting in the area. She told me of her idea to have a girl's class on all the things young women should know these days. It took a little convincing on her part and a lot of prayer on mine, but in the end I agreed to teach the class. Lo and behold, the material from that class grew into the workbook that I was later able to publish, and which launched me into the speaking, teaching and writing ministry I now have the joy of being involved with!
The Lord had to close one door back in highschool so he could open a new door! That has enabled me to actively live out His calling in my life, which is to reach out to and encourage those who are hurting and are in need of help. What an awesome God we serve!! I cannot begin to say how grateful I am to the Lord and for what He has done in my life...
~ He saved me by his grace.
~ He gave me a wonderfully loving and caring family to grow up in.
~ He allowed me to experience pain and struggles in my life so that I could learn from them and not take things for granted.
~ He gave me my health back so that I can be strong to serve Him.
~ He gave me this marvelous opportunity to share my heart with young people and parents on issues of purity, character and virtue.
~ And He gave me the man of my dreams, Travis, who loves, encourages and protects me, and never fails to make me smile.
~ He gave me a wonderfully loving and caring family to grow up in.
~ He allowed me to experience pain and struggles in my life so that I could learn from them and not take things for granted.
~ He gave me my health back so that I can be strong to serve Him.
~ He gave me this marvelous opportunity to share my heart with young people and parents on issues of purity, character and virtue.
~ And He gave me the man of my dreams, Travis, who loves, encourages and protects me, and never fails to make me smile.
Thank you, precious Savior!
What about you, my friend? What struggles has the Lord allowed in your life that have impacted you in a powerful way? How have they shaped you (in a postive way) into the person you are today? Whatever you have been through, or whatever you are currently going through, I hope you know that our Savior loves you and can be trusted 1,000%. I pray that He will do His work in your life and that you will be comforted and encouraged by the knowledge that He "considers your trouble and knows your soul in adversities" (Psalm 31:7).
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us, a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."
~ 2 Corinthians 4:17 (KJV)
~ 2 Corinthians 4:17 (KJV)
Comments
Mar. 10, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Jedi4sweet
Mykin, Whenever I read your posts, I am always thinking about what a wonderful gift you are to others!! : ) I love seeing how God is using you in the hearts and lives of so many. You radiate such joy and inspiration; may He continue to use you in mighty and wonderful ways. = ) I know He many prosperous plans for you!! : )
I hope you and your sweet hubby enjoy a wonderful weekend!! : )
In His Love,
Leslie : )
Mar. 13, 2006 - Great post.
Posted by Anonymous
I e-mailed the link to my daughter who is in college and she really enjoyed it too.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Mar. 13, 2006 - Ooops...
Posted by takingthechallenge
...sorry, that was me above.
Mar. 17, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Titus2woman
I am DELIGHTED to have stumbled upon your blog this morning~WOW! What an encouragement! *THANK YOU!*, and keep writing to us! (((((HUGS))))) sandi
