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From Trials to Triumphs: My Year of “Soaring”

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

New Year’s Eve found me pondering the word God had given me for 2024. Yes, I mean God literally told me that was my word; I don’t choose them myself.

The word was “soar,” and as we discussed it I confessed that I couldn’t see how it fit the year. Had I missed something? His answer was, basically, “Yes.”

The year began with a TIA that, praise God, caused no damage. An ER visit followed a few weeks later when acid reflux had me vomiting up the mucus that lined my stomach. Pretty much all of April and part of May were trashed by a severe reaction to gnat bites (gnats were at plague level at that point) that kept me in bed most of the time; I was going to work as I was able, but everything else hit the floor. These are just a few examples, but you get the picture: The word “soar” really didn’t seem to apply when looking at it from my perspective.

Then God showed me His perspective.

I’d entered 2024 having already made some lifestyle changes, but that TIA spurred me to make even more, to begin treating my body more like the temple of the Holy Ghose that Paul tells me it is in 1 Corinthians 6:19. Then, after the acid-reflux ER visit, I chose to stop using the medications I’d relied on for years and go the holistic route. The result, which I shared about in Acid Reflux Solutions: My Holistic Path to Recovery, is that my stomach is healing.

Then there is my weight, including a disturbing amount of belly fat, which has been an issue for some time. For years, I’d not been able to get under 176, which kept me in the obese category.  Last October it was 183, if I remember correctly. By February, my lifestyle changes had already caused it to drop to 180. Recently, for the first time in over ten years, I’ve broken that 176 barrier, and I’ve actually bumped 174 in recent days. It’s been a slow process resulting not from diets, but from steady lifestyle changes, and I’m feeling worlds better.

God explained to me that the weight loss and the improvement in my digestive system were examples of me soaring, rising above those trials I’d faced in the first part of the year. Even the month and a half I spent battling an allergic reaction so bad that it actually affected my ability to think clearly saw me rising above my agony. He then showed me all I’ve learned this year, including my most recent lesson on my trust in Him. (That one is in God’s Question that Stopped Me in My Tracks) He didn’t stop there, but I am. I’m sure you get the picture.

My point is that, when He gave me the word for last year, He knew exactly what was going to happen, and also knew how He was going to use what happened to help me grow, to help me soar.

Now I’m looking at 2025’s word, “perseverance,” and wondering just what He has in mind. Given the American Heritage Dictionary’s definition of the word…

Steady persistence in adhering to a course of action, a belief, or a purpose; steadfastness.

I find myself wondering just what’s on the schedule.

We shall see!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Complacency Leads to Neglect

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

At some point, I decided to start playing solitaire on my phone as a way to pass a few moments here and there and also to push my brain. It was hard, though, so I opted to start off easy, playing only one suit, and build up as I got better at it.

But I forgot my purpose. Once I mastered the single suit, I just kept playing at that level. I didn’t even work on increasing my speed or decreasing the number of moves I made. I just played the easy stuff to pass time.

I was complacent. No brain growth required.

Too often, we do the very same thing with our faith. We learn that faith is a necessity if we want to please God, so we “put our faith out there” for something. It may even be a legitimate stretch for us to trust God to shut down a headache or lead us to the best parking spot. But then we grow comfortable in that level of faith. We think we’re walking by faith because we always park up front and center, but forget that faith is like a muscle and must be stretched to grow.

Just like I got comfortable at the level I’d chosen for my solitaire games, and as a result I’d forgotten that a large part of playing the game in the first place was to push my brain, we get comfortable with our faith level and forget that a large part of using our faith is to push it, to stretch it, to make it grow, and to build its endurance.

“Endurance?” you ask? Yes, endurance. I heard a man point out, once, that one of the meanings of “little,” as in Jesus referring to people having “little faith,” is “short lived” or “not lasting.” In other words, sometimes we start out walking in faith just like Peter started out walking on the water, but then when our trials get more challenging and the wind blows stronger we are distracted and start to sink. That is a lack of endurance.

So, just like we should exercise to build our physical endurance, we should use our faith actively to build its endurance. Then, when it is challenged, it will keep holding us up.

I did start adding more suits to my solitaire games. I’m also determined to work more on my physical strength and endurance. My faith? Right. It will definitely not be neglected!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C