A new A - Z

I find it interesting that my last posts were my A-Z stories.

Tonight I am thinking of A-Z in a whole new way. Take the logo for Amazon for instance, there is an arrow which forms a smile from the letters a and z, meaning they happily provide everything you would possibly need, from a-z.  However, what I am really thinking of tonight is another a-z,  quite actually the Greek alphabet's version of such.  Alpha - Omega.  The beginning and the end.  Ironically, in some odd way my two examples of A-Z have merged recently in my life.

A couple of weeks ago, I found on Amazon a free digital book for my Kindle. It is a new release, written by Joni Eareckson Tada.  It is a book about healing.  I found this book on the very day I was having an ultrasound which would prove to show something unwanted growing in my body.  A few days later, also on Amazon, I run across another free book, this one by Ravi Zacharias, detailing how God has woven the details of our lives. 

Now some would say it is merely coincidence that I would run across both of these books at this time in my life, but I choose to believe that God had a hand in this.  God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  As I walk through a new medical trial in my life I know that this is where my strength will come.  

Both books have taught me much in such a short time , and yes, I am reading them at the same time.  Joni's book (first name basis?) has taught me that while I may seek physical healing for this thing hidden in my body, I should at the same time be seeking spiritual healing for the things I choose to keep hidden. As you pray for me, pray for my complacency, my negativity, my selfishness and so much more that needs refined.   Mr. Zacharias is teaching me that I should not fear these days of my life, because they have already been woven by God in His wisdom.  

Amazon has marketed well their ability to provide all we think we need, but in all reality, they can not.  All I need is provided by my faith and my relationship with my God. My Alpha and Omega. 

V is for Vodou (Voodoo)

is for Vodou (Haitian name for voodoo)

Now, the first thing I want to say is that I do not practice or have any belief in voodoo, but it does bring up a strong memory. I feel that by including this in my blog, it will be a reminder to me of Haiti's greatest need.

In 1993, after watching the slides from missionaries that were based in Haiti, I had a strong urge to go there. I honestly felt such a calling, if you will, to leave my family and be part of a team from our church that was going on a 2 week trip to assist the mission already based there. I told my husband that it was not that I really wanted to leave, but that I wanted to go. I have rarely felt so strongly that I was supposed to do something as I did then. It was in July, and I traveled with the second group from our church. Most had left a few days before, but due to some prior commitments, 4 of us traveled later.

Here I was, arriving in Haiti, when I had barely traveled anywhere else. This would be my first real plane ride, and many other firsts. I must admit that the first day there, I wondered what I was getting myself into. I developed a serious migraine on that first day, and wondered if I could make it.

As the days went on I knew I was supposed to be there, yet I still was realizing that our cultures are so very different. Everything was different, the poverty, the lack of communication abilities, the landscape, and the religion.

One night in particular, while we were trying to sleep (we slept on the roof of the mission on cots due to the heat) we could hear voodoo drums in the distance. That was definitely a strange experience for me, and to be honest , I felt evil around me. I prayed very hard that night, Although I knew that my God is greater than any evil around me, I needed to speak His name over and over for my own peace. I also prayed for the people of Haiti. We think sometimes that their biggest problem is their poverty, and that groups go there just to meet physical needs. We see and hear often of humanitarian groups that provide food, and medical help. Yes, these are real needs, and the poverty was overwhelming. But their greatest need is for the Lord God to rescue them from the evil that is all around them.

It has been many years since I returned from that trip, and to be honest, I do not think of these people as often as I should. There have been quite a few people that I know that have gone on similar trips since then, and each time it causes me to remember Haiti. I hope that somehow the focus of this post will also help me, and perhaps for those of you who read it will remember the Haitian people as well.

R is for Relastionships

is for Relationships

This is where life gets real. I know that when I come to the end of my days, all that will really matter is how I handled relationships: my relationship with Christ, and mine with people. There is just so much stuff that will not matter at all.

My relationship with Christ is still evolving. Although I have been a Christian for over 37 years, I am no where near where I should be. I am always learning more about Christ and desiring to be more like Him. I mess up, I am lazy, I get full of myself. Sometimes I wish God graded on a curve and I could just compare myself to the "really bad" people and the "really good" people and I could feel like I am closer to the really good. Sometimes I am in a slump in my relationship with Christ. I do not feel close to Him because I am not making enough of an effort. When you really stop and think that the God of the Universe wants nothing more that for us to spend time with Him, it really humbles you. I need that closeness. When I was going through my health issues I honestly felt closer to God than I ever have, I felt such a dependence on Him and such a longing. I want to feel that way again, but without the trials.

I think it is beautiful too, that God not only wants us to be in good relationship with Him, but truly cares how we treat people. He cares about my earthly relationships. There are times when I am so guilty of not doing enough to nurture them. Again, I get full of myself and my own little world that I do not reach out to others enough.

I know that God's plan for us is to love God and love people. A very simple plan, yet when put into action correctly can mean the world.
I will go to bed tonight thanking God for those He surrounds me with on a daily basis and for those I love that I do not get to see very often.

Q is for Quandary

Q is for Quandary

That is what I am in the midst of. Q is just not an easy letter. Here were my options that I felt I could at least get one paragraph :

Questions- I have a lot of questions that I want to ask God someday. I would list them here, but really, they are for God. Thing is, I am thinking that once I see Him face to face, I won't care so much anymore to learn the answers.

Quiet- I am not a quiet person. I always admire the soft spoken women out there. I can bet though, that most soft spoken women were not number 9 in their birth order, and definitely did not have 7 older brothers.

Quest- my brother suggested that, but it did not float my boat.

So you see why Q has to stand for quandary, because I am absolutely perplexed.

P is for Psalms 34:4

is for Psalms 34:4

I actually had multiple choices floating around in my head for the letter P. I thought about prayer, parents, and perseverance. Each of those words bring up many thoughts. However, I decided to share another one of my favorite verses, which in reality makes me think of each of the other words I was considering.

I was in my freshman year of college, and learned that my mother was sick. Seriously sick. Cancer was found in her colon and she would need major surgery. I was alone the night I got the call from my sister and I was so upset. I went to my room, and did the thing that never ends well...I opened my Bible and let it fall open. I had just enough faith or naivety, to believe that God would speak to me in this way. I know now that I could have opened my Bible to a verse that made no sense at all in my circumstance, but I didn't.

The verse I found that night was exactly what I needed to hear.

"I sought the Lord and He answered me, He delivered me from all my fears." Psalms 34:4

What a sweet verse for a young girl who is fearful and lonely. I have since gone back and read the entire 34th chapter and it is a very comforting passage to someone who is hurting.

I will admit, I am not the best at memorizing scripture, but this and my verse from Ephesians are etched in my mind. There are others as well, but these two in particular hold very special meaning.

I do connect this verse with prayer and with parents for that matter, since I found it when I was concerned about Mother. I also think that seeking the Lord is a part of perseverance, so I guess all of my "P" words can be found in this one verse.

O is for Optimism

is for Optimism

I must admit that I was stumped.

When I started blogging through the alphabet I knew there would be certain letters that would be difficult. This was one of them, so much so that I asked my facebook friends to help. One of them wisely suggested that it should be optimism, “because isn’t that what the Silver Lining is all about?”

The name for my blog actually has a dual meaning.

Yes it is about the proverbial silver lining, and that we should look for one behind even our darkest moments, but it has another meaning. My maiden name was Silver. When I decided to do a blog nearly 5 years ago I could not think of a name. My brother-in-law and niece came up with this name because of my silver hair and former last name. It seemed to fit not only as a name, but also as a direction. I would attempt to give a positive outlook on things.

Now, on to optimism: I wish I was always an optimistic person. I think I try to be, but actually I tend to worry about things far too much. My family will tell you that as well.

I do know that during the trials in my life I have been more optimistic than not. Only because I learned to trust God, and when you really put your trust in Him you have to look at things in a positive light. How could we doubt when we have the God of the Universe on our side?

I know that perhaps someone will stumble upon this post, or this blog for that matter and I would pray that something I have written could be an inspiration to them. Perhaps a bit of optimism does shine through this Silver Lining.

At the risk of really dating myself, I remember a song from my childhood. It popped into my head as I woke up this morning. The famous Frank Sinatra sang a silly song about optimism about an ant that wanted to move a rubber tree plant. The song was about high hopes. I could sing it for you if you wanted.

I think we do all need a does of that now and then, the belief that we can do the impossible. Brings another verse to mind..."I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Philippians 4:13

That is true optimism.

L is for Lavish

is for Lavish

I love that word. I love it that God lavished his goodness on us. I especially love how John put it:

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” I John 3:1

I only ever used that word to describe mundane things, like putting on suntan lotion, but when I think if its full meaning, I am honestly in awe. The dictionaries describe it as being extravagant or extremely generous. I am not “extremely generous” with many things. I tend to hold back. I reserve some for me, carefully calculating just how much of anything I can give. I then count the cost of what I am giving and act accordingly.

But God did not hold back. I know He counted the cost, but He gave anyway.

I love this word so much that I almost want to reserve it just for describing what God did and how much He loves us. Nothing I do can compare.

G is for Grandparents

is for Grandparents

I only had 2. Well, that is not entirely accurate, I only remember two. I never knew my daddy’s parents, one died right before I was born, and the other when I was about 2 years old. I have no memory of them at all.

My mother’s parents were amazing though. I have so many memories of going to their house, staying all night, spending time in their garden, swinging on their porch swing, and just being with them. My granddad was always a happy man, at least from what I remember. He reminded everyone of Colonel Sanders, and he really enjoyed that fact.

Granddad always had one certain type of white mints on his desk. They were a round, white, chalky type of mints and I remember that they had about 3 Xs on one side. Those mints were the first thing we looked for when we walked into their house. Candy was a luxury in our house, but at Grandma and Granddad’s we knew we were in luck.

I think the one thing I remember and appreciate the most about them was their faith. I would always see Granddad with a Bible close by, and no one could out-do my grandma on any church committee. They loved the Lord with all their heart, and their strongest desire was to see all of their family Love Him as well.

Granddad passed away when I was pregnant with our oldest. I so wish my boys would have known him, Grandma lived until she was ninety-nine. On a day, just 3 months shy of her 100^th birthday she woke up and announced that it was the day she was going to die. She assured everyone that before she died though, she would see an angel. I took that premonition serious and drove down to spend the day with her. At about 4:00 in that afternoon we called the ambulance because her bronchitis was sounding worse. As she was being taken out to the ambulance on a gurney, she called out to tell her daughter, my aunt, good-bye. My sister and my aunt got into the car to meet us at the hospital. I was allowed to climb in the back of the ambulance with grandma. Before we even left the driveway of her home, my grandma died. I was never told if she saw her angel, but I am pretty sure she did.

It is odd to me, that my own boys have only known one set of Grandparents as well. Both of my parents passed away before they were born. My husband’s parents have been the only ones they have known, and I am pleased that they too have a great faith that my boys can learn from.

I am not yet a grandma, I pray that I will be someday. Let me tell you now though, I am going to be a great one! I will even buy white mints and leave them on my desk!

E is for Ephesians 3:20-21

is for Ephesians 3:20-21

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

I will admit that at first I wondered what the letter E would be, but all of a sudden it hit me. The logical post in a string of posts about me would be that of my life verse.

My definition of a life verse is one that you go back to over and over again, and actually it becomes a part of who you are.

This is the exact verse that I have gone to a number of times because it always reminds me of how much more God is able to do than I ever give Him credit. I think at times that I put God in a box. I fail to ask for certain things because I have this awful habit of limiting God’s power.

Immeasurably more…that pretty much tells you how big our God is.

Although I thought I knew my Bible pretty well, this verse was first brought to my attention in 1993. My friend Linda and I were sitting on an airplane, circling the Miami airport for landing when we started a conversation with a gentleman across the aisle. He asked where we were heading and we told him we were leaving Miami the next morning for a 2 week mission trip to Haiti. Linda and I were both a bit unsure of what we would experience and a bit apprehensive. This man asked if he could give us a verse to hide in our hearts. This was the verse.

This verse has come to my mind so many times since then. I have prayed many prayers since that night that I just did not know what the outcome would be. Each time I knew that God is bigger than I could possibly imagine and that whatever happened He would be in control.

I know that God’s ways are not always my ways (another verse) but I also know that He is able. In all things He is able. Sometimes He chooses not to do something, and I get that.

It will just always comfort me to know that He can.

C is for Christ

is for Christ


I know that some of you expected me to say coupons.

I agree, coupons are a big part of my life lately, collecting, organizing, clipping, using, and teaching. However, and I stress this, I refuse to let them become my life.

My life, and all that it is about is found in Christ.

I was raised in a small church, which was mostly comprised of my family. I actually thought it was my Grandma's church and that she was in charge. In all due respect, I think she thought that at times as well. That church was not the best fit for me, and as I grew a bit older, I avoided it. When I was in high school my best friend started inviting me to her church and I liked it. I kept coming back, and finally, when I was a junior, I was baptized. Now, I already was a believer, but just had held off making a full commitment to Christ until then.

I can't imagine what my life would be like otherwise. Becoming a Christian has placed my life on a certain track: going to Bible College, meeting my husband, living where I do. Even the children I have was determined by that one choice.

I love my life. I love the fact that my husband and I have always had Christ in the center of everything, that our commitment to each other and the value we place on our marriage is all wrapped up in our faith.

Those of you who know me well know that there have been dark days in my life. As I have said before, I do not know how anyone faces trials without a firm foundation in the Lord.

If these 26 posts are intended to reveal more about me, then in all reality, I would be proud to stop now, because above all else, this is what I want my legacy to be.

C is definitely for Christ.