Category: Detoured by Affliction

The week had been hard for my mother. She had not felt well and she was worrying about her children. (That is, of course, what mothers do. All mothers.) But one day last week, she got up from her afternoon nap, opened the curtains and suddenly saw that one of her orchid plants was blooming!…

[As we approach (hopefully) the end of the pandemic, this poem seems more than appropriate.] God, It is drastically important that the pain of this past year is not wasted. How tragic it would be to suffer so much and gain so little. What I must learn in my pain is that it is always…

John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual who served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England. He is best known for his epic poem, Paradise Lost. By 1652, however, Milton had become totally blind. This autobiographical sonnet, titled by John Newton, On His Blindness, is thought to date…

God said, “My presence will go with you. I’ll see the journey to the end.”Exodus 33:14 The Message It was August, 2003.  An exploratory finger in my mouth confirmed my worst fears: my cancer was back for the third time.  I was terrified, devastated.  How could I go through this horrible thing again?  Was this the…

This popular children’s book tells the story of a mouse, who, when given a cookie, finds more and more things he needs: milk to go with the cookie, a mirror to see if he has a milk mustache, and on and on until, thirsty, he asks for a glass of milk – and a cookie…

First it was one, then two. Then many. In the deep winter cold I have ants all over my house! Ugh! I hate ants! I can’t blame them for wanting to come inside. I wouldn’t want to be outside either. But I feel very strongly that out is where they belong. I am finding them…

Save me, O God, because I have come to you for refuge. I said to him, “You are my Lord; I have no other help but yours.” Psalm 16:1-2 Living Bible Heavenly Father, Teach me to trust You even when I do not know where You are going. Help me to surrender and not turn inward into…

Pity me, O Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, for my body is sick, and I am upset and disturbed. My mind is filled with apprehension and with gloom. Oh, restore me soon. Psalm 6:2-3 Living Bible Chronic Fatigue is annoying. I find myself praying like this in every possible way. Repeatedly. Demandingly. Insistently. But, what…

This has been a very hard week for me: I’ve been in the clutches of a severe Chronic Fatigue crash. I couldn’t keep my eyes open on Sunday, didn’t get dressed on Sunday or Tuesday (I wouldn’t have dressed on Monday either except I had to take the trash out). I have been able to…