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THE AVERAGE LIFE

I was in my 50’s and life, was going great!  I worked full time as an Administrative Assistant to a local Chamber of Commerce, cleaned a residential and commercial business on the side, and was very involved with my church.  I was a licensed Lay Minister and did a lot of public speaking.  I loved engaging with people!  Every day was planned and busy as I met deadlines and fulfilled duties from being a wife and mother.

Does this sound familiar to you?  I am sure most who read this study live by lists and are involved as much as I was.  It gave me a sense of accomplishment to check each item off hopefully completing them all by day’s end.

I enjoyed conducting Bible studies and thrived when asked to be a guest speaker at mother-daughter banquets or ladies' conferences for the church.  Filling in as a guest minister from time to time when the Sr. Pastor was away, to me, was the ultimate.

It was summertime, and my husband and I had gone out for an ice cream cone when visiting loved ones in a nearby city.  I was walking a little ahead of him when I felt my head kind of shake quickly from side to side.  I dismissed it and went on enjoying the evening.  I shared it later, and he said he did notice my head shaking from time to time.

Once again, I tried to put it in the back of my mind, until one day I noticed my left hand have a little tremor.  This got my attention because as a teen, I used to write for my daddy who suffered from tremors. His hands and voice were most noticeable to me. I didn’t think much of it as a teen because my dad was old enough to be my grandfather, and I just thought it was something that happened with age.  

I did a little research and the word Parkinson’s Disease came up, so I knew I had to see a neurologist who could figure out what was going on.  Going to see a specialist for shaking, I discovered, makes you shake more, and sure enough, I was diagnosed with essential tremors.  

I was determined to keep it quiet for as long as I could, and life went on as normal. 

“I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”  Revelation 3:8

You and I may be organizers and planners, but we must keep in mind that our plans may not always work out! Here I was teaching and preaching about faith, about healings, about open doors, and suddenly I had to practice what I was teaching.

CAN YOU RELATE?

As we continue this study, I will be transparent about my feelings and how I handled the life I never expected.  Whatever you are battling, be it a disease or a chronic illness, God wants you to know that He can work through you even when the door you planned to walk through, closes!

WHAT WE LEARNED IN TODAY’S STUDY:

• Every individual has ideas of how their life should go!
• Most people are extremely busy just doing life!
• The unexpected can happen.
• Sometimes our plans get thwarted.
• God knows you individually, and He has set before you an open door!