Where has the last three years gone?

I went to Chicago this month in an airplane.  As I watched from my window seat while the plane took off, I was struck by the fact that I hadn’t flown anywhere since January of 2020.  It surprised me how unsettling this was in conjunction with losing out on most of 2019 due to my battle with Gullian-Syndrome. If you are a recent reader of this blog, here is the link that chronicles my recovery from that crazy disease.  http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/michaelguthrie Processing what I went through, led to me starting this blog so that I could share with those who were interested, what I have learned since all of this happened.  Here is a link to one of the first blog posts back in the fall of 2019.  https://thankfulinallthings.com/337-2/ Wow!  My life changed because of Guillain-Barre and then because of Covid given GBS is a compromised immune system disorder.

Since that plane trip and with my 70th birthday right around the corner, I have dealt with grieving over the time lost and things I did not get to do. It is time I can’t get back.  It caught me by surprise how The Chicago trip brought it all back.  My self reflection leaves me hoping that like this picture, I have had some success at “blooming where I have been planted”. It hasn’t been easy.  I have written about how I have been envious of what others were able to do while Dottie and I remained in our self-isolated cocoon.

Yes.  I was discouraged but, I never lost hope.  Why?  When I was first diagnosed with GBS, a doctor friend shared, “it will get worse but you will get better”. I found these words comforting because it allowed me to focus on a positive outcome.  A Realtor in my company shared the other day that “Stress is when you don’t what will be your next steps”.  Even though I was paralyzed from the head down, I never felt stress but began asking the question, What do I need to do next to speed up my recovery?  My next steps were to remember Paul’s promise in Philippians 4:6,7.  Instead of succombing to the angst of my circumstances, I was to, “not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  I was to, remember that Jesus said to come to Him with my burdens and He would give me rest.  https://www.biblehub.com/matthew/11-28.htm

So how I have resolved the question, “where have the last 3 years gone”? I meditate on Jeremiah 29:11 remembering God knows the plans He has for me  https://biblehub.com/jeremiah/29-11.htm
and therefore like Paul, 

Do you feel stressed out?  Are their circumstances in your life that create anxiety?  Maybe your next steps should be what Beth Moore recently wrote.  ‘“We cannot take God at his word if we don’t know his words. If we don’t know his promises, we cannot profess with confidence that he will keep every last one of them. Spend some time in Scripture every single day. Will you ask God to give you an insatiable appetite to know Him better.”

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