Sunday, November 16, 2008

My Heart is Full

As many of you know my uncle died on the 7th. His funeral was yesterday. It was so important to me that I would be able to attend. I knew with my illness that this would take a miracle (if you aren't familiar with my illness, you can read about it in the sidebar). Our family would need to travel to the other side of the state, stay in a hotel, eat out, attend a very long visitation and of course, be at the funeral, graveside and luncheon. Whew...I was overwhelmed just thinking about how any of this would be physically possible for me. Thus began the prayers of many!! We were asking God to give me the physical ability to do all of these things without symptoms. I need to tell you that the past two days exceeded anything I even thought about asking God for.

We had a ride across the state. Attended 7 hours of visitation. I stayed up late at night playing games with my nieces. I walked down the aisle of a church without assistance and sat through the service. It was even possible for me to walk up & down stairs many times!! When I tell you that I only had a few "whirls" - THAT is a miracle!! God blessed me with being able to say good bye to a man that I loved dearly. To be able to stand in his church and sing his favorite hymns! What a privilege to be with my family and sing "Blessed Assurance" and "When We All Get to Heaven". There were no shortage of tears on this face. Yet at the same I was overcome with joy and gratitude at the gift God had given me.

This outing was the first thing that my kids and I have done together in 18 months. (yes, we have gone to my parents, but you know what I'm sayin') Funny that God would bless us with fun times together at a funeral. Isn't that just like God? Doing the unexpected. I missed Don (hubby) while sitting in the church. I knew that he would have been one of the pall bearers and it was hard not to sit and feel his arm of comfort around me. However, I cannot help but feel that the prayers my uncle has been faithful in praying for Don all this time will be answered in a mighty way. May Don come to know Jesus, may he mend the broken relationships with all of his children, may God begin to heal his broken heart!!

Thank you to those of you who have been lifting me up in prayer these past several days. Your prayers were physically felt by me. How great to be able to talk with the kids and have them realize that they witnessed a miracle in their mom's life just by the fact that I could be in attendance with them. God is in the miracle business still! The same God who raised His son from the dead. He has not changed. Lord, help me not to doubt or limit you. I am still asking for a miracle - for a healing. In my health and in my family. Thank you, Jesus, for being beside me each step of the way. May your name be ever on my lips. May I point to you like Uncle Art did. Thank you for his life and for the miracle you are performing in mine!


29 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so happy that all went well.You where very blessed.Sorry it had to be the way it was for you 3 to get away.But mabey God is telling you something,I do feel you will be healed, & Don will at some time know Jesus.I will pray for the healing, Don being saved & your maggage healed.God bless vicky

AR and J Mama said...

I am so sorry for your loss. I didn't know any other way to communicate with you, so I thought I would send you a comment. I saw your prayer request on "My Charming Kids" website. I am a physical therapist, and I was just wondering if you have been evaluated by a PT who specializes in vestibular disorders. It may take you awhile to find the right one, but if you can find one who really knows what they are doing, and has gone to special classes, they may be able to help you. There are maneuvers they can do and there are also exercises you can do at home. Unfortunately, this is the one area of PT where the therapist has to make you feel worse before they can make you feel better. The manuevers and exercises usually bring on your vertigo (in school they recommend that we have a bucket nearby in case the person gets sick after the manuever), but the people that I have used the manuevers on show good improvements (and this is not my specialty area). I hope this helps! You may have already been through all of that, but I thought I would throw it out there. I would look online or the yellow pages for a balance and mobility center in your area. Or call a few places and ask do they have someone who specializes in vestibular rehab. Good luck!! I really hope that maybe some physical therapy will help you!! And I will be praying for you as well! :) Amy

UL Cards Fan said...

Dear Sheryl,
Tears are just streaming down my face as I read about your MIRACULOUS weekend.

It is an honor to pray for you. I love you so much.

LINDA

Laura said...

Girl,

I have been praying for you and I like Linda can't help but not cry. When we pray and seek him..

God is so good.

I love ya,
Laura

-stephanie- said...

Just prayed for you and your family after reading your request on MckMama's blog. I believe God is healing you, and Don will accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior. To God be the glory.

Debra Kaye said...

Sheryl,

I am so blessed by reading of this victory for you!! Praise the Lord!!

Sweet sis, I suffer from migraines and epilepsy seizures so I can appreciate how the dizzy spells can affect you...having them on a non-stop basis is something I can't imagine.

I loved how you said that God is still in the miracle business...yes He is and may we never forget it!! With testimonies like these, we won't.

Blessings to you tonight, sweet sis!

Unknown said...

What a miracle working God! I am so thankful to Him that He allowed you to be able to say "goodbye for now" to someone who meant so much to you. I'm sure your uncle is looking into the face of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I can't even imagine the joy.

Jenn @ Casa de Castro said...

Praise God for His faithfulness in ALL things! Thanks for this update. Yes, the prayers of the righteous avail much.

Rejoicing with you and praying for continued peace.

Joyfulsister said...

Hi Sheryl..
I'm glad I stopped by to read this post today, I am so very very happy to hear that you were able to attend the funeral for your uncle and that everything went well!!I could feel the excitement in your words*smile*. Continued prayers for you my dear sistah, keep the faith we serve a healing Jesus..

Hugz Lorie

Joy Junktion said...

Sheryl,
God is so good. I am thankful for you that you were able to attend such an important celebration of life. Somehow, even though these times are sorrowful, attending a funeral can be so healing.
I continue to pray for you my friend.
Cindy

Anonymous said...

I have tears of joy as i read your post!! you've been on my heart since you left that comment on my blog, and i've been praying for you ever since!!

what AWESOME VICTORY He gave you!!!
I am in awe. He is just Amazing!

and i totally agree with you that He is in fact still in the business of miracles!!!!


continued prayers for a complete healing for you.

love you
jill

Jaime said...

I saw your comment on my blog and I wanted to come over and say thank you. I will be praying for you as well.

Kimberly said...

Sherly,

What an awesome testimony of God's Hand being all over you! So grateful that He kept you well enough to celebrate the life of one of the men you held so dear! You truly inspire me!

Love you so very much!

KB

Paula V said...

Praise the Lord. Oh, praise God for such an awesome blessing. What an awesome show of His Hand in your life. He most definitely is the great Miracle Maker for sure. You are so right, we should never limit Him or doubt His ability. I pray for you often and also for Don and your marriage. Nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37.

I'm trusting Him for my own miracle as you know.

I'm so happy for this wonderful weekend. I really am.
Love,
Paula

~Amy~ said...

Again I am sorry for your loss but Praising God for you being able to attend the services. God is good. Praying for your healing.

Courtney Kay said...

Thank you for your comments and prayers, you will also be in my prayers

nancygrayce said...

I'm sorry for your loss, but thrilled you had that time with not many symptoms!

Susan said...

Oh Sheryl,

My heart rejoices with you!! Thanks for sharing this amazing testimony.

Keep pressing on my sweet friend♥

Amrita said...

God gave you strength to spend time with your family. Praise the Lord

Tea with Tiffany said...

This is a true joy for me to read. I felt your joy and gratitude. God did the unexpected and I loved reading how He showed up.

I will be praying for your health and family.

Hugs,
Tiffany

Michelle said...

Sheryl, I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm glad you were able to be there with your family and spend that time together. What a wonderful miracle!

Hope your week is going well...Happy Tuesday!

Hugs,
Michelle

Anonymous said...

Hey Sheryl!
I tried to find your email addy in your profile, but don't see it :(

mine is jillkaitlyn04@aol.com
if you don't mind emailing me yours :)

you've been on my heart like crazy too! been praying for you tons :)

love ya
jill

Courtney and the Boys said...

Hi Sheryl!

Thank you DEARLY for your comments on my blog and your prayers for my brother. You are right...God IS still in the miracle business...my brother called me yesterday and told me that he will indeed be stationed here near our family!!! Tears just streamed down my face as he told me the details. I just kept thinking about writing my prayer request on MckMama's blog, eliciting prayers from her and others like you. Usually, God tends to answer our prayers in ways other than we request them, but this time he answered them spot on!

And then reading this post of yours and how God gave you such a miraculous gift in your time of need just makes my heart smile. You, your husband, and your children will be in my prayers. :)

Courtney in Indiana

Unknown said...

How wonderful that you were able to go and enjoy your time remembering you uncle.

J C said...

Go glad to read how God blessed you. Leaning on Jesus, moment by moment--when we do that, we truly "live".

Susan said...

Sadie,

What a beautiful time. I'm so glad everything went so well.

Thank you, too, for remembering Stacy. I so appreciate it.

Lila

Ashley said...

Sheryl. First thank you for stopping over at my blog and spending time in prayer for Rodney and my brother. Know that I will add you to my prayer list. I send my most sincere condolences about your Uncle, there are no words.

In one of those twists of fate, my mom was diagnosed earlier this year with something similar to what you are suffering from. It is called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and she was even hospitalized for a while (when I was home last May), until one of the residents spoke up. His father suffered from it so he knew what it was. It sounds like you suffer from something similar and if you are not having the migraines than I would be curious if you actually have BPPV.

You have probably done lots of research and don't need a "lecture." But like "ar nd j mama" suggested, my mother sees a physical therapist and they do these weird exercises where the move her head so that they can re-position the "rocks" in her inner ear, which get lodged and this is what causes her spells of dizziness. I would highly consider giving it some thought as my mom has been able to returne to a normal life.

If you would like to talk more you can email me at alh 63 (at) georgetown (dot) edu - just remove the spaces - and my mom would be more than willing to talk with you. Sometimes it helps to just talk with someone who gets it.

God Bless,
Ashley

Susan said...

Sheryl (Sadie),

I got the check today. Thank you so much! That will make such a difference for Stacy and Jaden. Thank you, thank you!!

Susan (Lila)

Pamela (His maidservant) said...

I wish I had been more in touch here. I have allowed life to be too busy to blog hop like I use to. God's message to me this past week has been consistent with the message that He is always present and boy did He prove himself to you during this time. God is so good!! So gracious!!

In His Graces~Pamela