Category: Truth

The Do You Have Faith?

Annette CoffeyLeave a comment

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6. NIV
“He replied: if you have faith as small as a mustard seed , you can say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey you.” Luke 17:6. NIV
I recently heard a wonderful talk on faith. Faith is not having all the answers. It’s just knowing who does and being ok with that. That is faith. Everyone has faith in one thing or another. Those who believe in a master craftsman who designed this well thought out planet and everything that goes along with it, or even the atheist who believes in the Big Bang theory or evolution has to have faith.
Just to walk outside and not worry about falling off the earth takes faith. Gravity is not something we can see or feel but we know from early on in life that when we stand up we will not float away. Or when daddy throws us up in the air we will come safely back into his arms.
We don’t believe everything we hear but some things just feel right. You have to decide what to believe. Like which came first the chicken or the egg. Scientists might say the egg. You can’t have a chicken without an egg. How can a lonely chick survive in this big ole world all by itself. Who will show it how to eat, keep it from being eaten, and how to fly. So many questions.
The theory that an all knowing master designer, who knew exactly what he was doing, who created everything starts to make sense. I don’t know about you but I have more faith for that. Just happening or coming from an ape is harder for me to stomach.
I like to watch the animal shows. What makes them do the things they do? They are made so perfectly to adapt to their surroundings. How they instinctively know how to survive. Not only survive but even thrive and relate to those around them. Man is also so intricately made. Doctors have learned so much about the human body, but they still don’t have all the answers. Someone has got to know how.
I would rather believe in a supreme being who has all the answers. Someone who loves me and always does what is best for me. It frees me up. Less to worry about. A master creator that has it all under control.
When you have enough faith fear will leave you. Because when you realize that the one who truly loves you has worked everything in your life out ahead of time for your very best. Every day of your life whether good or bad is beautifully orchestrated to work out for your best. Sometimes when I have really messed up or am having a rough day I ask God, well how are you going to fix this one. But he always does so completely.
I look back over my life at how richly I have been blessed and every year it gives me more faith.
“But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, whose hope is in his unfailing love,” Psalms 33:18. NIV
-Annette-

Then She Spoke

Ever since I can remember I have been quiet and introspective I take in everything around me holding it in my heart.

Annette CoffeyLeave a comment

Ever since I can remember I have been quiet and introspective I take in everything around me holding it in my heart. I have had a wonderfully blessed life full of positive things. I once thought that was normal but now that I am older I can see so much hurt and pain in the world. All my life I have been soaking in things in my life that now have made me a very strong person. I was always quiet as a child and as I grew I found it hard to talk to just anybody. I had to get to know you pretty well before the real me came out. Then I was silly and goofy, the class clown, just trying hard to get people to like me. Even after I was married my husband was a good talker so I let him do the talking. So I kind of lived through his conversations never saying much myself. While working people saw me as stuck up and to good for them just because I seldom spoke to anyone. I found a profession that I was really good at. I was a realtor. When working I found that I knew just what to say to get the job done, but still no chit chat or light talk. My business partner saw this happening and tried to draw me out. I knew him well and could talk to him as we worked, easily. Not too long after that I had a massive stroke. Immediately I couldn’t speak. No voice, and I couldn’t move. Before anyone knew what was wrong with me they thought I had passed out but I was wide awake and totally aware of everything going on around me.  They were trying to figure out what to do and I was screaming out in my head call 911. That’s about when they realized that this was serious and they should do just that. I was then in a hospital unable to speak or even move and they were trying to take care of me.  My husband was again my voice telling everyone what I would want. I couldn’t even open my mouth let alone get anything out. I did learn to point to an alphabet board to speak my most urgent needs. I got real fast at spelling my needs but it was hard to keep up with me.  I would get frustrated easily and cry a lot. This got me labeled as a behavior problem in the nursing home I was in. I finally got my computer back and tried to tell people what was going on but by then I was already labeled a problem so no one listened. I lived seven years of basically being mute because I was getting little air in my lungs I could get very little volume out and most people couldn’t hear me, or didn’t want to hear, or just didn’t understand my speech. I went through several speech therapists trying to get me to speak and if you listened real carefully you could make out what I was saying. In a crowded nursing home full of older people and people with mentał issues I was mute. After seven years and a miracle one morning I got the air back in my lungs I could talk, not perfectly, but enough for the nurses and aides to understand me if they took the time to listen. Still I couldn’t communicate with the majority so I still did not talk much. I had so much to say but to who, so I became a really good listener. I found out so much about everyone by just listening around me. I always had good hearing. I was always writing about everything that happened to me from the stroke on. Which made for some good books. I enjoyed getting heard.

– Annette Coffey