the unknown

Do you like detours? Or do you find them irritating and time-consuming? We often just want to get where we are going and not waste time, isn’t that true?

Let me share a detour that has caused me to really take a closer look at my life and what I am doing. I had a small health issue the last few weeks off and on, and with it was excruciating pain in the kidney. Thinking I had an infection, I used an over the counter product that would help with the symptoms until I got into the Dr the following day. Apparently with my body metabolism, the amount used wasn’t something that my body could tolerate, but toxic, actually. So my normal appointment to the doctor the next morning turned into going straight from the doctor’s office to ER. Suffice it to say, it was quite a detour. I couldn’t drive myself, couldn’t reach my husband at home, and so I had to be transported to the ER by ambulance for three blocks to the hospital. The journey began. Doctors and nurses worked hard to find out why my oxygen levels were so low and not able to be raised past 88 percent. Not good. Tests, blood test, blood gas tests, scans…you name it and it was done. Find out that my body had a toxic reaction, and a VERY rare case I was. My blood looked almost black, and I was asked from the ER Doctor what planet I was from. I just told him it was strong Norwegian blood! But, I wasn’t out of the woods. My highest levels even with high flow oxygen was only 88 percent. They thought it was caused by blood clots in the lungs and that turned out to be negative, thank you Jesus!! What was it? It turned out to be hypoxia methemoglobinemia. It is very rare for someone to react this way! Oh good! I’m special!!! So with that diagnosis, the doctor knew of the antidote to give me and sent me upstairs to a room to receive it. Warning: my daily bathroom visits could yield all blue for a while. So true. I usually have a high anxiety when visiting the hospital because of my previous experiences, and I get quite emotional. However, it was like someone else dealing with it and it’s seriousness. I couldn’t understand the peace I had. I asked God to give the all clear on the blood clots in the lungs and He did. I am so thankful for that. Blood draws every couple of days doesn’t seem fun at all.

Here is the deal about detours. They are often unexpected when it comes to our lives. Road detours are sometimes announced a head of time and we know how to plan ahead. We have to watch for the sign that tells us the path of the detour. Give ourselves extra time for the detour. But in our lives, that isn’t the case always. Sometimes, it just happens. We have to deal with it as it comes. Is it ok to feel scared? Of course. But we can know where to take that fear. God is always there. Sometimes our detours come and God uses them for us to see something different; a new path or a new direction. As we use these times to ask God what we are to learn from them, we find Him in that storm and He will whisper… He wants my attention in areas I need to be better about.

It my last few weeks, I had been struggling with some areas and asking God to show me where I needed to be, as well as where He wanted me involved. Sometimes, I need to lay down something so another can pick it up and lead. Sometimes He wants to use me in a completely different way. We often see a picture of ourselves and where we are and think, that is where we are to stay. But God may want to reframe our lives in ways that allow Him to use us even more. Am I going to complain about the pain, the pokes and prods, and the uncertainty of what is going on in my body, or will I say thank the Lord for bringing me through it, slowing me down even more, and ask Him to guide my next steps?

If I wasn’t having that appointment that morning, I would have not known what was going on.
If I wasn’t in the doctor’s office.
If the ARNP that was on the ball and recognized my blue lips and blue fingers.
If the saturation levels didn’t indicate an issue.
If the ER doctor hadn’t been diligent enough to keep working at it.

I could have lost my life that day.

But God…He had that detour all planned out. He knew the end from the beginning. The outcome isn’t over, because I now have a whole list of things I can’t take now because of how my body may react to it. I can’t even use BioFreeze, which I often used on my sore back. I got an antibiotic that day for the first issue and that gave me hives. However, it was the only one available to me. I took three doses and that was all I could do, but he said that would work. So… I am now on a new path with different ways I must live; at least for now.

The lesson on this detour? I am re-examining my motives in where I am and what I am involved with. I am taking time to ask Him the hard questions. Then listen to His answers. I can’t expect to have things different in my life if I am unwilling to change what I need to. The biggest ones I think about after this experience? Am I REALLY ready to meet Jesus? Is my life in order? It could have went a lot differently that day. Am I prepared for that? Am I willing to take a different road and let Him show me what He wants me to see? Will I have a new appreciation for life that I am given everyday, because I am breathing today? Take the correction if needed? Forgive someone I may need to forgive? Am I in the Word enough and not just sharing it, but in it enough myself? Billy Graham was known to say the one thing he wished was that he studied the Word more. That leaves a big gap for me if he was saying that. Is my life so busy that I am not slowing down enough to notice where He wants to use me? Is the idea of having stuff more important than something else in my life? A desire for better this or that, rather than being thankful for what I have? Hard questions = Growth.

Yes. Detours can be educational if we allow them to be. I am allowing it to be. I want it to be. Looking forward to the detour. If you are looking for hope, don’t look around, look up.

Until next time…

~JoAnn

FOR SALE: Today, I am writing in response to many who are asking me questions based on a few of my posts about moving. Some of the questions are:

Why move?
Where will we move?
Why do you want to leave your home after you just got it more the way you wanted it?
As I have shared where that move might take us, the question of why we would move so FAR comes up.

Understandable. I asked some of those same questions as I prayed and talked with God about the whole situation. Even though it is hard, there are many different reasons. I thought maybe if I share some of my thoughts about this season of change and transition, maybe it will resonate with some of you. When a big wind of change comes into your life in the future, maybe you can be more prepared to approach changes in your lives with an open heart. Here we go with a few financial choices we have made:

First, I am looking for what God is doing. It is like Dave Ramsey says, “Live like no one else SO THAT, you can live like no one else.” (emphasis are mine)
We have lived in places others would not want to live.
We have lived in houses others wouldn’t desire to live in.
We have made decisions such as moving to the midwest to work for a ministry. Many thought we were kind of crazy to do that, especially since we were going to a home sight unseen. But God… He took care of us and all the details!
We drive used cars so we don’t have car payments.
We do the work on our home to save money on our future utilities.
We make the hard choices so that later, we can make the fun choices.

With that said, we are now entering into the next chapter. A move. We could make the decision and just stay here. We could. God gives us a free will. We have enjoyed it here and have accomplished the above things in our current home. However, as we have prayed about it, we have felt that God has something else He wants to do in us and for us. Are we going to be obedient? Yes. We want to be in God’s will. I have been praying for a long time about our future retirement years and what we want that to look like. So, we began to ask ourselves:

What are our priorities?
What do we want our life to look like?
What makes us happy?
What is it that really feeds our souls?
What must we do to be able to live that way in our daily life?
What do we need to do to get from here, to there?”

What is our plan? Why the move out of the area? The answer is simple. We will go where the housing is less expensive than here in current location. It will not be too far away that a drive up north can’t fix. Being debt free is what we desire. By keeping the mortgage cost down, we can still continue to enjoy our life, enhance our home, and travel. As we began to ponder these questions, there were some changes to make in order for our lives to be what we envision. Doesn’t mean this location is wrong. On the contrary. God gave us this wonderful home and it will be wonderful now, for the next owner. We are proud of leaving our home much better than we came into it. We have enhanced its character. I love that. I am now praying about, and planning in my head for the next home He brings. We will dedicate it just as we did this home.

Part of our discussion has been our life style. We can easily become too busy, overextended, and have crazy schedules. In the long run, it doesn’t help us to really have peace or joy because we are always running. We get worn out. I know many who later on in their lives, have regrets about their lives and how they wanted it to be, but it isn’t. Personally, I view change as a way to start a new chapter with what I have learned in the last chapter. If we will be open and willing to really hear, and not ignore, what God is telling us or leading us to do, we WILL reap the benefits of His guidance. I don’t want to miss that. But if we ignore what our hearts are telling us deep down, then we may have a life that works, but not as fulfilling as it could be.

I have been reading a great book by Michael Hyatt called, “Living Forward”. The book discusses the idea of having a Life Plan. A life plan is designed by you, and meant to give you direction with your whole life; whether at home with family, relationships, a career, or any other area. It has been very insightful to me. It is exactly what we have been praying about for our life, and was affirmation of what God may be leading us to do. I would encourage you to get this book and read it. Don’t be afraid to make the changes necessary. Who knows how God will use the changes you make? He knows what is important to us and will work out the details; even missing friends and family that will be further away.

My hubby and I are at the precipice looking over the edge. We are choosing to step out in obedience. We put our hands in His, and obediently walk this path out. God asks us to step into the water before He parts it, so we step forward even though we can’t see exactly what is ahead. We trust He will land us exactly where we need to be planted for this season. It’s up to us how we react to it all. I am very grateful for all God has done for us, and I am very excited to see where God will take us. Watch for future posts of the journey!

Update: We got the listing up with photos and one hour later we received a call for a showing. Got favorable response with possible offer, and then another call for an appointment for 5:30p and the first day! God is working!

Walking the journey with you…