Do you ever feel like you are on the path you should be on and you get stopped in your tracks and turned to a completely different direction? Sometimes it feels like a slap in the face or a kick in the backside of your britches – as my dad used to say. You are not alone. This has been my dilemma for the last year and half, and I feel like I’m finally getting some clarity about it.
I thought graduate school was the answer for me, the place where I could learn the most to help others. I was doing so well and I loved what I was learning. Then suddenly the hospitalizations started. In 2023 I was hospitalized almost every month for eight months. I tried so hard to keep up in school and I just couldn’t. I ended up withdrawing from two classes and will have to retake them should I start again.
I felt so frustrated! I was mostly tired of being sick with blood infections and repeatedly going in and out of the hospital. But I also did not understand why God was taking away from me what felt like a perfect plan. I made a commitment that as soon as I was stable I would start school again, but I also prayed often. What do you want me to do? Is this your plan or my plan?
When I started feeling stable, I began looking at the registration forms a month or so ago and picked out a class. Then it hit me like a freight train that I needed to start another writing project and not finish graduate school. At least not yet. If you’re wondering how I “knew” this was the right thing, I started praying fervently about it and talking with trusted friends. These are important steps to take.
So, I’ve been writing, and writing, and writing. Everything’s fallen into place and I even have a mentor. I’ve written so much so quickly it’s become obvious to me that this is what I am supposed to be doing right now.
Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it (Isa. 30:20-21).”
Even though it is clear to me this is where I should focus my energy, it is not easy! I still have adversity and afflictions. I often cry out, I can’t do this, Lord! The past two days alone I felt so frustrated because I just couldn’t overcome some obstacles, both physical and external, that were getting in the way of me writing. I spent the day praying and asking God to show me what he wanted me to do instead. I was able to read and do other important writings and tasks.
The teacher, the wisdom, the lesson comes when we persevere through adversity. Life is just hard. For all of us. When we have faith that God is working and he will show us the way, we can breathe a little easier. Let’s hold each other up for whatever obstacles we go through, and God will be with us.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze (Isa 43:2).
Diary of a Quadriplegic 
I don’t know anyone stronger than you, Terri. Whenever I have any kind of issue, I think of you and realize I don’t have a problem at all. You have taught me so much over these last 11 years. I am so thankful to have had you in my life. I am praying for you to be able to continue your writing and also for no more infections. I can’t wait to hear more about your writing. ❤️🤗 Gretchen
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Good morning.
Thanks for speaking my mind. You have said it all. May God almighty continue to strengthen her for being a blessing against all odds.
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Hi Terri, I sent you a message but I cannot see if it posted. Thinking of you every day. 🙏❤️ Gretchen
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Thank you, Terri. I just wrote on my Facebook about an incident with a friend. She is 77 and I was to watch her for 3 days before she flew up North to be with family. I thought it was a no-brainer, which alarms me now.
I hadn’t realized that she could have a seizure. Honestly, I pray God helps me consider my ways carefully as far as thoroughly considering others’ needs and weaknesses. The poor woman is so delightful. I made dinner and she slept, after having had an emergency surgery for a hernia. Well, here we are at breakfast and she had a seizure. The poor thing had always had a chair with arms at the dining room table. Well, she bought velvet chairs to match her new velvet couch. WITH NO ARMS! She fell out of that chair and onto her face. Lord God, I panicked so terribly. She will be okay and really had a great way about her through much of the hospitalization. She really needed to have been at an assisted living the prior year but refused. I love her and feel so badly that I hadn’t responded better and caught her at her fall. The weird thing is that the woman has always been single, she adopted a daughter and raised her…she is faithfully involved in fellowship…but, I believe that the deepness in her came to the surface in a few of her interactions at the hospital it became evident how much more there was an underlying purpose that was her true close walk with Jesus. I believe she loves people more than she is perceived to love. I believe that her walk with the Lord was incredibly evident to so many more hospital personnel and community members. While I played Christian music while visiting her, it seemed her soul was soaring above…not in a way of dying but of truly living and being a worshipful woman, full of the Lord’s authority and kindnesses. (deeply embedded kindnesses that she wouldn’t leave this earth before they were made evident.) That bump on her head really did make me wonder what Jesus was doing to prove that she was His rose. Bless you for your hardship and your desires. I know I have wanted to return to school…it is somewhat of a distraction at times, though from the connections that God is glorified in…this world doesn’t provide the answers with our studies but by and through our love. Thank you for sharing your love with us. It helps me assess what is truly important. loving others who love Him.
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‘The true meaning of words is only learned in the school of affliction’
(Mrs. Herman, 18th Century). These words of wisdom helped me a lot.
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Terri, I have recently read about how God sometimes takes something that is good and something we are even good at away from us because it is becoming something more important than God in our lives. It can become an idol. It seems to me like you have torn down an idol and are back on track with what God has planned for you. Keep listening to God! He is guiding you!
Love and prayers! Cheryl
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May God continue to shine His light on the path he wants you to take and bless you with the strength to persevere. God bless you, Terri! 🙂
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Pingback: Directed by God – QuietMomentsWithGod
Thank you!!
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This is a good reminder. Sometimes things just don’t go how we thought they would. And seeking guidance from someone you trust is important. Many of us have not done that when we should have (speaking from experience!).
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“When we have faith that God is working and he will show us the way, we can breathe a little easier.” Yes, by the very breath of God through His word where His sheep hear His voice! How good is the Lord! Praising God for you and with you, Terri. Let’s keep pressing on.
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Terri you have such a beautiful way of writing – it is a gift to all of us. Thank you for sharing you thoughts, your struggles, your lessons, and your heart. God has truly used you to help so many of us in understanding how God works in our lives. I love you!
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Thanks so much for being an inspiration to me.
May the Lord almighty continue to perfect all that concerns you.
More of Gods grace upon your life Stay strong
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That’s been my experience, too, Cheryl. It turns out even ministry can be an idol. When I asked the Lord, “What do You want me to do?” the next day I woke up to a song in my head from “Phantom of the Opera” – hardly a Christian show! But the line that spoke to me, the only line of the song that I knew, was, “Love Me, that’s all I ask of you.” I realized God doesn’t need my help, but He does want to work in my life, just not if I’m going to idolize the work. Loving Him comes first.
Terri, God bless you as you let His power flow through you and create something wonderful!
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It’s so good to see you writing. Helping people sometimes means something different than I thought it did and God seems to make that clear if I listen. You are such a good example of listening and following His direction. Thank you Terri
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Dear Terri, Again it is a blessing to hear how our Father is working through you. Four years after mourning Jerry’s death, I am seeking the power of His presence to do His will in and through me. Not publishing a book since 2020, I have tried different avenues for help. You are blessed to have a mentor, such as I have been praying for. I pray the Lord’s powerful working to proclaim through you what He does in His children. Much love and blessings.
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Terri, the passages from Isaiah are such a comfort. A reminder that God will guide our steps directing us to the right or left as we listen for His voice and instructions. I find your posts encouraging and infused with the hope of Christ. Your transparency is a testimony of God working in and through you. God bless you!
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We’re inclined to think the greatest wisdom comes from people who no longer struggle with ups and downs or with discerning God’s will. But, as you yourself demonstrate here, Terri, wise people are in the thick of it; they teach us even as they are in the midst of learning the things they teach us. Your prayerfulness, humility and hard-won patience are truly inspiring, my friend!
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Terri, your strength and faith are amazing and such an inspiration to others. I’m in constant awe at how you consistently stay the course, never giving up, dealing with struggles that others would simply allow to consume them. Thank you so much for your testimony you provide to me and others. Keep writing-keep sharing your faith-bringing others comfort and encouragement along the way. Take Care-love Dana
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Terri, you have inspired me today…to get back to my writing. So thank you! My physical pain and limitations do not compare to yours and I also have many questions of God, like you. But I do know that he gives me things to say, to write, and I want to be useful and obedient to Him. So I will post today, my most recent poem. And I will pray for you now as you’re on my mind…
Father, bless Terri today with all that she needs and may your will be done in her life here on earth as it is done in heaven. Amen.
In Jesus’ love
~kim
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Beautifully written Terri! So encouraging!
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Hi, Terri! Thank you for this faith filled post! You have shown us clearly that if we keep seeking God for His will, he WILL answer us. Just seek Him and Trust Him, period. The trusting Him doesn’t always come easy. Glad you are back on track, and teaching us that perseverance is necessary in this Christian walk. The scriptures you used here are so relevant! We are never alone. Ever! Sending my love and prayers and a big ole hug.
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So good to hear from you, Mary!
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Speaking of direction, thank you so much Terri for allowing God to use you as a bright, shining compass pointing towards Him. I’m definitely in a huge period of uncertainty in regards to a lot of things right now and God is definitely speaking through you in order to steer me back onto the right course. Thank you again for using your extraordinary gift for writing in order to help others. I know it isn’t easy and you continually have to overcome so many obstacles, but like the prophets in the Bible who allowed God to speak through them even when they were at their most vulnerable, you serve as such an awesome inspiration and example for us. You are such a beautiful lighthouse and a lifesaver too.
Praying for you and thanking God for you always 🙂
Crystal
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