My Friend Marcia

Good morning,

My friend Marcia Gilbertson gave me a printed piece of paper last week when we met at our friend Marla’s house for what we call “HH”–Happy Hour! We call it that not because of the traditional meaning of meeting for wine or cocktails at the end of the day, but because we want to laugh and share stories and exchange how happy we are that the three of us are friends.

Marcia is extremely precious to us for many reasons, but one of them is because we almost lost her five years ago. Long story short, she was on life support and at the Mayo Clinic for months. She has PH, or, pulmonary hypertension. The choice was lung and heart transplant or what they did: put her in a coma and hooked her up to some machine that would breathe for her and pump her blood which gave her lungs and heart a rest for a month. She now has medicine, pain, and trials that she suffers with every day. But, she will be the first to tell you that her attitude is the biggest factor or “medicine” she needs every day. She plans things so she can laugh, be thankful, and praise Jesus, each day. She is a miracle! Living and breathing was her first miracle; that she is with us for HH is our miracle!

So, my point in telling you this, is because Marcia knows how much praying for each other matters! Praying bridges or email chains, etc., help the hurting and the family! Jesus does not leave you when you call on him. Bad things happen to good people. God uses people to comfort and hold you up. Faith in Jesus really does give you hope… our attitude toward each day is our choice. Below is the piece of paper she gave to Marla and me last week at HH.

Today was the absolute worst day ever
And don’t try to convince me that
There’s something good in every day
Because, when you take a closer look,
Even if
Some goodness does shine through once in a while
Satisfaction and happiness don’t last.
And it’s not true that
It’s all in the mind and heart
Because
True happiness can be obtained
Only if one’s surrounds are good
It’s not true that good exists
I’m sure you can agree that
The reality
Creates
My attitude
It’s all beyond my control
And you’ll never in a million years hear me say that
Today was a good day.

NOW READ FROM BOTTOM TO TOP

Pretty crazy how the same words can be negative or positive! Reading it the first time hurts my heart! Reading it the second time lifts my heart!

My prayers today are with Las Vegas and all the people around the world who had loved ones at the concert. Evil is awful! Goodness is triumphant! Comfort is real and mourning is horrible. Agreed whole-heartedly with our Westwood church Instagram yesterday: Prayers for Las Vegas. God be near to the hurting!

Love you, Teri