Chronic Illness/Overcoming Adversity

We all have access to God

Recently, a good friend of mine asked me to sit in the ICU waiting room with her while she awaited the outcome of her loved one’s surgery. She told me, “I wanted you here because God listens to you and he doesn’t listen to me.” This is so sad. And so wrong. I don’t have [...]

God doesn’t allow spiritual attacks; we do.

Like other Christians, there have been times when I felt spiritually assaulted by the dark side. And, although it’s only happened a handful of times, it usually occurs when I’m on the cusp of an enlightening breakthrough. I’ve pondered how God, who loves us unconditionally, would allow Satan and other negative energies to prey on [...]

The rains: A Reluctant Spirit out-take

This excerpt, deleted from my final manuscript "A Reluctant Spirit," details the first day I fell ill with Post Viral Neurasthenia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome while exploring East Africa in 1989. To this day, that safari holds a magic for me, one not minimized by 18 years of illness. The wind whips my blue cotton [...]

Don’t rush it. Everything comes in its own time.

Patience has never been my personal virtue. I wanted a publisher to sell my book, “A Reluctant Spirit,” years ago. I’d thought I could handle my discomfort revealing such intimate experiences that happened to me. I was wrong. Thank God, the Most Divine had a different plan in mind. Life led me on a rambling, [...]

Never Lose Faith

In 2000 and 2001, doctors from the Mayo Clinic and Stanford Medical Center told me I suffered from permanent nerve damage and would never recover. Their advice to me: Stop pushing yourself and accept that you’ll never live the life you want. Despite this, a voice buried deeply within me urged me not to give [...]

God speaks to all of us

A few weeks back I caught a television interview with Bill O’Reilly, who was promoting his book about Jesus. The reporter leaned forward and said with a hint of sarcasm, “You say God talks to you. Do you really believe that?” “Yes. He does,” O’Reilly said. Ugh. In that instance, a grand opportunity fell through [...]

The grass parable: a lesson in resilience

As I walked the hills behind my house this past Christmas Eve, I noticed a clump of new-green grass cracking the soil where it broke through. Not more than ½ inch high, but nonetheless, I stopped and marveled. You see, just a few days before, the temperature plummeted to 10 degrees Fahrenheit, hardly the weather [...]

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