Finding Life

Today I went out on our front porch to change some old artificial greenery. I had bought a fuller replacement that looks more real. As I reached for the thin old greenery something began flapping and I backed away. The flapping of life in something old made me smile. With low eye sight, I figured it was a bird but couldn’t tell. Grabbing my iPad from inside I crept as quietly as I could and took a picture. Above is an enlarged picture of what I found. While I don’t know for certain, Im assuming that’s a momma bird sheltering her young. New life is beautiful. As I ponder this truth I see faith in motion. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we don’t see. I don’t see the eggs under this momma bird or possibly hatched baby birds but I truly believe they are there.

Yesterday I bought a new shirt that says “Momma Bear”. I love it and will wear it with joy. There is nothing like the love and protectiveness of a mother for her child, no matter how old they are. Our son Joshua arrived home last week after being away for half a year. It is the greatest joy to have him here again. The long talks and time together are priceless.

This Wednesday May 18 at 10:45 he has his annual appointment with his eye specialist. Every year since 2009 my heart becomes a bit anxious as this appointment approaches. I have to confess this to the Lord daily and He strengthens me. The doctor told us I could not pass along my vision problems since it was said mine came from a birth defect to my optic nerves. As I pray fervently for our son I am asking for God to create new life and bring restoration and renewed health to Joshua’s optic nerves. I believe that behind those beautiful green eyes, new life is forming and restoration is taking place. When he was a little guy he used to sing, “My God is great, so awesome and so mighty. There’s nothing that my God can not do.” From the mouth of babes!

Recently I have been reading different books with testimonies of how God heals. In the Bible itself, Jesus never turned a single person away who sought healing. Jesus healed them all. Why God has not done it yet, I do not know. But I do know that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) Nothing is impossible with God! (Mark 10:27) As Christians we must take God at His Word and stop believing the lies of the enemy. You might think Im a bit radical but that’s okay. I choose to believe God. Jesus took a horrible beating at the whipping post over 2,000 years ago. Isaiah 53:5 says “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.”

Jesus also teaches us that greater works will we do because He goes to the Father. Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins. He took our place! He was buried and raised to life on the third day. He is alive! He ascended to Heaven and sits at the right hand of The Father interceding for us. The Bible tells us in John 14:12, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.”
‭ I am believing my Jesus! He makes all things new! ‬ Will you join me in faith declaring restoration in our sons eyesight? The Doctor will see signs of new healthy life at his appointment on Wed essay. Signs of restoration! May a huge wave of faith and prayer arise over the world as I sent this blog post out far and wide. We give all glory to Jesus! Thank you Lord for renewal, flourishing nerve health and bringing everything in line to what it needs to be for optimal health. Amen!

If you’d like to read more of my story please check out my autobiography “Rooted by the Water”. It’s a true story of how God has enabled me to overcome great difficulties, not by my own strength but through His strength made perfect in my weaknesses. You can find it on Amazon and many other online retailers such as Barnes & Noble, Books a Million, Target and Walmart.
Www.shannonkenleyhinson.com

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Release it again

Picture found on Pinterest

Sometimes we think we have things handled well until something triggers a flare up in anxiety and you realize it’s been hiding deep down inside unnoticed. Several flare ups have occurred this week and it has somewhat surprised me that anxiety is still lurking. Past experiences can leave little scars that you don’t realize are still there. This week I have kept busy while our son is doing an adventurous cross country camping trip with a friend, in tents. Each day I have either walked with my neighbor or a friend. We walk, talk, encourage and pray. Several times this week I have confessed my feelings of rising anxiety about hidden fears that I didn’t realize still exist.

As the week unfolded I thought of how James 5:15 tells us, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” In my heart I know that Jesus doesn’t want us walking around anxious but wants us to bring each and every fear and situation to him. As I type this there is a severe thunderstorm warning in effect. Storms have never bothered me but the boys are traveling home. I keep repeating; pray, believe trust, release. Repeat… pray, believe, trust and release. We have zero control over many things in life. The saying goes, “Life is10% what happens to you and 90% how you deal with it.” My way of dealing with life is to pray, pray and pray some more. The Bible also tells me in Philippians 4:6 “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Maybe I need to add thanksgiving in as well. Lord thank you that we can come boldly before your throne of grace because of the shed blood of Jesus and you hear our hearts prayer.

Today as I ended my walk with my friend Valerie I told her I wanted to pray with her. We were standing at the end of my driveway. As I held her hands and prayed over her, her family, my family and just everything, it was a precious time. As I said “Amen” I noticed a FedEx truck was parked nearby. I told my friend that the driver probably saw something he didn’t see often, people praying together in the driveway. I sure hope it was as big of a blessing to that driver as it was to us.

Life is such a toss up of so many things. We never know what’s around the next corner. As I’ve been writing this blog I’ve seen many severe weather alerts, a couple tornado watches and now sun. I had the dog move with me to the floor of the bathroom. I honestly set my iPad on the commode lid as I typed and waited. My dog must have thought I was out of my mind. I ventured out and saw the sun shining through the windows. Now it’s dark again. All I can say is “ Lord I don’t know what’s on the radar but you do. Amen! He is El Roi the God who sees. As long as my Heavenly Father is at watch, everything is going to be alright. So let’s rest in that knowledge and pray, believe, trust, give thanks and release it as many times as needed.

If you’d like to read more of my story please check out my autobiography “Rooted by the Water”. It’s a true story of how God has enabled me to overcome great difficulties, not by my own strength but through His strength made perfect in my weaknesses. You can find it on Amazon and many other online retailers such as Barnes & Noble, Books a Million, Target and Walmart.
Www.shannonkenleyhinson.com

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Warrior Girl


I don’t know about you butt the day to day grind seems so much like a battlefield some days. Okay, honesty it’s most days. There are some battles not many know of. The battle to see. With optic nerves that are just too small, Emailing, texting, messaging are a huge pain in the rear. (Sorry! Just being honest. I can be transparent to a fault.) There is the battle of dealing with technology. I have a love/ hate relationship with technology. I love how I can zoom large to see things on my iPad. But when you type on a touchscreen the keyboard is normal size, so imagine all the typos that end up in everything from a short text to an e mail. They all have to be zoomed in to edit and fix typos. It can be tedious but God has given me a resolve to push through. There is the battle to attempt comprehending speech with my cochlear implant. It depends on so much; the processor itself, background noise, rate of speech. etc. There is more but that’s enough of my personal battles.

Then there are the typical battles. Battles of controlling thoughts. The Bible tells us to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5. Let me tell you, as a deep thinker, that’s capturing a whole lot of thoughts. Lord help me! That leads me to the next battlefield: the battle of dealing with people. Oh my goodness! I’m beginning to wonder how many people in the world have integrity to do the right thing. Two nights ago there was a hit and run, taking down our privacy bushes and part of our fence. No police report and our homeowners insurance says we will have to pay a $2100 deductible BEFORE they will pay anything. Seriously?

To sum it up, there’s the battle to walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh. There are the many prayers that go up daily asking, “Lord how do I deal with this? I can’t do anything about this situation and the way I’m feeling and wanting to respond would not please you. Help me choose your way, think your way, be kind and love in your way. Help me to die to the flesh daily and live according to the Spirit.” I can’t but God can enable me. I’m so thankful!

Recently I read a devotion and it mentioned the best battle stance is on your knees! Wow! That is so true and powerful! When we pray, things happen in the spiritual realm. I might not be able to do anything about it but GOD CAN! My God can move mountains and obstacles out of the way! He can bring clarity to a perplexing situation. God did that for me recently and I’m forever grateful. We must PRAY! We must FOCUS ON JESUS! So many circumstances I just don’t understand but my God is sovereign! He is in complete control of it all. I’m a bit radical. I’ve been known to put on one of my sons jackets and pray “ Lord wrap your arms around him. let him feel your love for him.” Several years ago several of his friends had left things in our bonus room. I put on one guys shoes, one guys hat and held out another’s shirt and I prayed for them. I kid you not. There is power in prayer! There is power in the name of Jesus!

Last year Ron and I cut our crepe myrtle trees way back. We had a trailer full of branches to carry to a landfill. I went along with my husband to dump the tree branches. There were huge piles of rocks and other piles of wood and other things. I was shocked at the size of the wood pile. As I helped him toss the branches there were some that were long like a spear. Being me, I thought why not get some pent up frustration out. Besides dealing with LIFE, my dad was under going cancer treatment and my brother was recovering from a bone marrow transplant, not to mention my own frustrations. So being me and living in the moment, I threw those spear like branches as hard and far as I could. Turning to Ron I said, “Warrior Girl”. He started laughing. It was funny and I laughed as well.

Life is hard but Jesus has already won the battle. Keep looking up! Battle on! What we do for the Lord is not in vain. Shake the frustration off, pray and keep moving forward. God’s got this… whatever your THIS is!

If you’d like to see more of my story, check out my autobiography “Rooted by the Water” available on many online retailers including, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, Target and Walmart.
Www.shannonkenleyhinson.com