Looking back over the first 13 days of this New Year, and even a few days before this year even began, I keep asking myself if I was dreaming. Actually, it might be considered more of a nightmare. "Wake me up, Lord. Please wake me up!" But, alas, I find myself wide awake and in the moment. Have you ever felt this way?

It all started before Christmas when my father fell off the end of his porch. This was followed by my mother falling and breaking her leg 4 days later. Then, on Dec. 28 I had a chemical stress test (there's a fancy name for it that I do not remember right now). I did not pass. Hmm! More about that later. A week later, my right knee decided to quit functioning properly. I have decided to take out stock in medical equipment! (Smile)

The moments of the coming next couple of weeks will mostly be spent in doctors offices and hospitals. I still keep thinking, "Lord, wake me up!" He says, "Be still and know that I am God." I've been trying to do just that. It has been encouraging to reacquaint myself with good Christian authors and to meditate on the truth I am finding in the pages of their books. During times of illness and times when we have to be "quiet" - times when we cannot run to and fro doing the Lord's work, we find time to revitalize our relationship with Christ. So often we are caught spending every minute and every ounce of our energy doing. We turn ourselves on in the morning as soon as our feet hit the floor, and like the Energizer Bunny we keep going and going and going. By our actions we are saying, "I'll be with you, Lord, just as soon as I finish doing this task for you." He waits and waits, but we never come to talk with him. The very thing that he cherishes most, we rarely accomplish. Should we be surprised when in his love and mercy he "draws" us aside, by whatever means?

"Moment by moment I'm kept in his love"... this is a song that I have sung many times throughout the years. I find it still so true. "Moment by moment, I've life from above...moment by moment, O Lord, I am thine."

Whatever is filling your moments at the present time, trust that Jesus has your best interest at heart. And, wake up, get the sandman's sleep bumps out of the corner of your eyes, and spend some time with Jesus, today. He loves to listen. The pleasure and joy you will find after your communion with him will help the pain, disappointment, drudgery, sorrow, depression or whatever else you may be experiencing, to diminish. He has us in the hollow of his hands, under his wings. Sigh! How comforting.