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"The Lord is my shepherd...Yea, thou I walk through the the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me" (Ps. 23:1a, 4).

There are time in our lives when we are called to walk beside someone who is fighting a great illness that could or will take their lives. Since we are not the one who is ill, it is the valley of the shadow of death for us. But it affects us none the less. These are the times when even we need God our Great Shepherd to lead us through this dark valley. We can be sure that if we keep our eyes on the Shepherd he will lead us through that valley to the other side.

Did you know that he brings weapons with Him into the valley to help protect and care for you? Yes, he does. Let me tell you about these weapons. He carrys a rod. Now this rod is a weapon that shepherds in the Holy lands. With it they use it as a club to beat back animals that are trying to attack the sheep. God also deals with our enemies, both physical and spiritual. We may not always see how, but he does. The other weapon is the staff.  A shepherd holds the staff sideways and uses it like a guardrail to help keep the sheep on a dark steep trail. God also has a staff called the Bible that tells us where to walk in safety. The shepherd also uses the staff to grab a sheep that is about to fall over a clift to keep them from doing so. Or to grab a sheep that has already fallen over the cift and is stuck on a ledge, to bring it back to safety. God also can do this to those of us that allow him to do so.

You see, Jesus, God son, is the Great Shepherd, he said so himself, when he said, "I am the good Shepherd. The shepherd gives his life for the sheep" (John 10:11 NIRV). That is what Jesus was doing when he died on that cross. When we realize just how much Jesus wants to take care of you and protect you even in the dark valley of the shadow of death, you will find comfort.

Comforting hugs,

Chaplain Toni

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God is in his holy temple. He is a father to those whose father has died. He takes care of women whose husbands have died. God gives lonely people a family" (Ps. 68:5).


I have heard many people of all ages say that they feel like an orphan when their parents or whomever was their care taker dies. I want you to know that God understands.


I have heard women say that they feel like half of them died the day their husbands died. They also feel unprotected and cared for after th...at. God wants to know that he is there for you, protecting and caring for you.

We live in a culture where parents are not always in a child's life; divorce leaves people caring for kids without the other parent; and many people are states away from the comfort of their family. All of these situations have made us a nation of lonely people. BUT the good news is that God had said that he would always be there for you! If you are lonely and in need of the love of a parent, spouse or family, just climb up into God the Father's lap and sit there for a while. He would love to lavish His love on you! He also has his family, it is the family of God. Feel free to reach out to those in it.


Comforting hugs,
Chaplain Toni

 

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"By Whose stripes ye are healed" (1 Peter 2:24).

Before Jesus was put on the cross for our sins, he was whipped. The whip that was used on Jesus was a leather whip with many straps at the end. At the end of each strap there was something sharp that cut his skin every time it hit him. When they were done his back and other parts of his body had deep stripes cut into it.

This verse tells us that he took those stripes, so that we could be healed. This healing is not just physical, but mental, emotional and spiritual, as well. All we have to do is go to him and ask for his healing. He sits and waits to hear from you. He is also a good listener, so you can go to him and talk to him as  you would a counslor, He is the best one around! Try it!

Comforting hugs,

Chaplain Toni

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The Lord defends those who suffer. He protects them in times of trouble" (Ps. 9:9).

The Lord is always there for us when we suffer from things we cannot control, like the loss of a loved one. But he can only be there for us, if we let him be there. He is too much of a gentleman to push is way into your life if you don't want him there. So if you want him to be there for you in your time of trouble, you have to ask him to be there.

Comforting hugs,

Chaplain Toni

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"My complaint is still strong today. God's hand is heavy against me even though I am groaning. I wish I knew where to find God. I wish I could present my case before him. I would fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words of his answer."

                                                                                 (Job 14:7-10 NCV)

One stage of grief is bargaining. The Bible verses was said by Job after all his children had died and he was very ill with boils all over his body. He was still trying to make sense of loosing his children and being in great pain. He wanted to go to God and get answers as to why.

When we are in the process of grieving and we are trying to wrap our mind around the reality of loosing a loved one to death, we often also wish that we could go to some one and get answers. Some people even blame God for the death of their loved one.  I have seen it many times over the years. I once asked a young man why he blamed God for the death of a loved one. He told me that he did not know who else to blame and God was there, so he put the blame on God.

Please remember in these times, that all good things come from God, and bad comes from Satan.

 I have known people who had loved ones who were gravely ill that  tried bargaining with God for their lives, because they did not want to give them up. Remember,  that God respects humans right to choose, and he will not over ride people's chooses and some times there choices can get them hurt real bad, make then ill or even dead. For example if someone had made a choose to not take care of their body by eating the wrong things and not staying fit develops an illness like heart disease or diabetes, that was a choice that they made.

 Also remember that when someone is termly ill they may ask God to take them home to heaven. Please don;t get mad at God when he lovingly take them out of their painful bodies and takers them to heaven to get a new body.

Lastly, I want to address that it seems that many people who have lost a loved one, often gets ill themselves within the first year after their loved one has died. This is because their body's ability to fight is lowered. Job too was ill after all his children had died. Please try hard to eat right, get the rest that you need and do something physical that you have enjoyed in the past. It will help your body to stay strong during these days, weeks, and years afterwards.

Comforting hugs!

Chaplain Toni

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• "Is man's life on earth a drudgery? Are not his days those of a hireling? He is a slave who longs for the shade, a hireling who waits for his wages. So I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled mights have been told off for me. If in bed I say, "when shall I arise?" then the night drags on; I am filled with restlessness until the dawn. My days are swifter then a weaver's shuttle; they come to an end without hope. Remember that my life is like the wind; I can not see... happiness again"(Job 7:1-4, 6-7).
  

  We feel like these verses when life throws us a bad curb ball, like the death of a loved one. We feel as though we are having to deal with a situation that we have no control over, and life keeps buzzing by us while we are trying to get a grasp on it all. We want to scream, "Stop the world, I want to get off for a while to figure this all out!" But we get no rest from it all, for life goes on. Know the feeling? I do, been there, done that.
  What I found out during my bad moments of life is that I could take moments to stop and climb into God my Father's lap for a while. While there I could pour out my heart to Him and cry. Crying is ok, it is a way of "draining" the emotional wounds that we carry. After Vannie died, I would alot myself 30 minutes a day to do this, then I got back to life. Those 30 minutes with God my Father is what helped me get through my grief and moved me into actions that helped me celebrate her life instead of her death. In doing so I found HOPE again

Comforting hugs!

Chaplain Toni

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Finding new direction in your valley of doubt and confusion

"Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? (Is. 43:19).

Have you ever had something happen in your life that just stopped you in your tracks, like the death of someone? I and a whole lot of friends recently had that happen to us, when a godly man who was president and co-founder of a fairly new ministry suddenly died. We were left with a big hole, not only in that ministry,but other ministries and our lives, as well.

When things like this happen, we are left standing in one place feeling at a lost as what to do next. You know you want to keep the ministry going, but you are not sure what the next steps should be at this point.

I believe that is when we should stand still and know that God is God  (Ps. 46:10). I don't know about you, but I have learned that life may not be fair, but God is good. Don't ever forget that. If you will trust in him, he will lead you out of whatever valley of doubt and confusion, you may be in at this time, and lead you in a new direction.

As you do so, if you listen real close you will hear the Lord say," Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth."