As silvery icicles form on the eaves and sparkle in the thin mid-winter sun, may the New Year for you be full of hope and promise in the Lord .Welcome to the January newsletter!

Right Place, Right Time

While Phil is in Marianjoy Rehab Hospital recovering from a stroke he suffered on December 10th, he commissioned me and some wonderful friends to take on the challenge of writing this month’s newsletter.

As I pray for inspiration, I am reminded that there is a reason for everything according to God’s plan, but when Phil’s life at first hung by a thread, I held his hand in the emergency room and prayed that if the Lord was calling him home, to just allow me to say goodbye, but if he wasn’t finished with Phil doing His work, to lay His healing spirit over him and restore him to health. Through my tears and pain, it was difficult to try and understand how this terrible thing could have any place in the Lord’s plan for our lives.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:9-11

I was just ending my desperate plea to God when the first of what Phil has come to call “God moments” happened. The nurse in the emergency room was praying with me.

The stroke affected Phil’s speech and when we first arrived at the hospital, he could not even say my name or the words yes or no, but within two hours he was able to talk, slurred to be sure but understandable and the need for surgery was greatly diminished. That was really a “God moment”!

In the ICU Phil held hands and prayed with the nurse to help her with the IV since he has very difficult veins to find and we were able to comfort and pray with the daughter of a church member whose mom was in the room next door. After his condition stabilized and Phil was transferred to a regular room, he found opportunities to talk to others about his newsletter and website. He helped and prayed for others who confessed that they were either searching for their faith or seeking to renew their faith and we have been blessed to be able to experience such a wonderful out-pouring of love and support from our church family. All “God moments”!

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:11-13

We often hear people say, “I am just one person. What can I do to make a difference?” but what Phil and I believe is that if you put your life, faith and trust into the Lord’s hands, He will put you in the right place and the right time to serve his purpose.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Phil is looking forward to relating the details of his challenging but amazing journey when he is at the keyboard again to write the February newsletter, but in the meantime we received wonderful news from his medical team. They all assured us that Phil will regain almost all of his speech and muscle strength that he had before this stroke happened.

Thanks and praise to our Lord God almighty!