Bob & Charlyne's Blog - from the heart of a restored marriage

"I lift up my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2

I cannot stop praising my Lord for how He has been with our family for the past four days. We have experienced God's protection, miracles and blessings from our Lord that I will never forget until I see my Lord God, praising and worshiping Him.

"I will exalt you, my God he King; I will praise your name forever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom." Psalm 145:1-3

On Monday, Hurricane Wilma came across our state, and hit our area as a Category 3 storm. All of South Florida has varying degrees of damage, but nothing like Hurricane Katrina with the water damage. We had the strong winds, causing roof damage, screen porches torn off houses and windows blown out from condos and buildings. As you drive down streets, you see trees laying on their side or damage to light poles and lights. There has been no electricity, but today, Thursday they are starting to get some areas up as they are working 24 hours a day. We personally are doing great as Bob got our home totally prepared since the last two hurricanes with a generator.

Bob and I had a little excitement on Monday morning as Hurricane Wilma was blowing through our city. Bob thought he would go sit on the back porch, not realizing how much wind and rain had already come across our back porch. ( Last hurricane we sat on the porch during it, but it was coming from a different direction.) I was following him outside when Bob, took the first step on our tile porch and he slipped and fell, going up and then landing on his back. (It was similar to some of your ice!) Well, we have had experiences before with Bob falling, so I looked outside and knew our two sons could never come over and help me because the storm was too bad. I started praying and Bob caught his breath and within ten to fifteen minutes Bob managed to pull himself up, roll over and crawl into the house. Praise the Lord. Afterwards, we started to reflect and realized that Bob could have broken his arm, hip or hit his head. Our Lord was truly his Protector.

Stop and reflect on your life these past few days and months. Are you aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit protecting you from harm and the evil one? I know from personal experience that your Lord is right there with you. Ask Him to speak to your heart and reveal Himself to you in a special way. He loves you and your family so much, that He will speak to you in a very special way.

Tim's Car

As many of you may know, our oldest son, Tim, was in a car accident a few hours after the Hurricane subsided. Due to his job with the county he was headed north to run his business from his northern office due to no telephones. He stopped by our home, told us his plans and left. Tim appears to have blacked out and rolled his car over and was ejected. Tim woke up in the dirt with two men helping him up the terrain. It is a long story, but Tim ended up in three hospitals before the night was over. We would get bad reports and then good reports, but in 36 hours Tim was discharged with no internal or head injuries. In time, we will share God's protection, His favor, blessings and miracles that we experienced for two days. God moved mightily in answering our prayers.

Got to go cook dinner on the grill. :)

This week I have written two devotionals on Trust. I usually read a Psalm before I go to bed. The next Psalm was 56, the heading in the Bible said, "God Is On My Side." Wow! I like that. As I read the Psalm, I knew that I had used two verses in the devotional, but let me share the whole Psalm with you. I could not sleep, so this blog is for someone who needs to know without a doubt, "God Is On Your Side!"

The Lord knows your trials and He sees your tears and He is putting them in a bottle. Trust Him to remove your enemies! Also, note the word, "promises." May the Lord bless you as He blessed me when I was reading it.

"Lord, have mercy on me; all day long the enemy troops press in. So many are proud to fight against me; how they long to conquer me. But when I am afraid, I will put my confidence in you. Yes, I will trust the promises of God. And since I am trusting him, what can mere man do to me? They are always twisting what I say. All their thoughts are how to harm me. They meet together to perfect their plan; they hide beside the trail, listening for my steps, waiting to kill me. They expect to get away with it. Don't let them, Lord. In anger cast them to the ground. You have seen me tossing and turning through the night. You have collected all my tears and preserved them in your bottle! You have recorded every one in your book. The very day I call for help, the tide of battle turns. My enemies flee! This one thing I know God is for me! I am trusting God--oh, praise his promises! I am not afraid of anything mere man can do to me! Yes, praise his promises. I will surely do what I have promised, Lord and thank you for your help. For you have saved me from death and my feet from slipping, so that I can walk before the Lord in the land of he living." Psalm 56 (The Living Bible)

Our youngest son, Tom, and his wife, Kathleen, whom you might know through the Ministry, are parents of our (for now) youngest granddaughter, Samantha. She is two years old two today. Sam is coming home to Fort Lauderdale to celebrate her birthday with her family and friends this weekend, and of course, to see Hurricane Wilma. Happy Birthday Samantha! Grandpa and Grandma love you. Thank You Lord, for bringing Bob home to be a lighthouse for others. Have a blessed weekend.

I had to go to Physical Therapy Orientation for my back and neck pain. They did an evaluation and then suggested using an electrical nerve stimulation on those areas for thirty minutes each session. After that they then showed me exercises to strengthen my back and neck muscles. I had been praying for a week about the time that this was going to take from working. But, I also want to be a good steward of my body, so I was being obedient.

I asked my physical therapist if it was possible to have that type of device at home. A relative had just told me that her mother had one and it was helping her. The therapist said they would have the secretary call and check my insurance. As I was literally walking out the PT room, she said, "Guess who is here; the representative that supplies our Electrical Nerve Stimulation System. She says your insurance will cover and she has one with her."

The Lord had given me the knowledge to know about this device on Saturday, knowing that in a few days I would be able to use it for my own condition. God knew my needs and had that medical representative walked in at the exact time for me to have a gift from God and encounter a divine appointment for something that the Lord knew would help me physically.

God loves each of us that much every day, if we will only ask Him to direct our every step, surrendering our will and way to His will and way. Lord, show Your children Your love and may they experience divine appointment that You make for them.

I love Sundays. That is the day that I ask that the Lord to speak to my heart and fill me to overflowing with the Holy Spirit. My prayer is for my Lord to teach me more about His Word and about Him. We go to church and then listen to many different televised sermons, recorded via Sky Angel, in the afternoon. Yes, I take notes on those sermons also. The messages we heard this Sunday were all excellent. As we listen to the sermons, Bob or I will often comment, "Oh, if only the standers could hear this."

Sunday morning at Christian Life Center, our home church, Pastor Yeary reminded us that our Lord is our Shepherd and we are His sheep. He found us; He shields and leads us; He cares and teaches us; and He keeps and guards us. Our Pastor also read a scripture that describes the prodigal spouses:

"And Isaiah boldly says, "I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me." But concerning Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people." Romans 10:20-21

He then read Psalm 23; "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his names sake." Psalm 23:1-3

What a perfect scripture for each of us and for all the prodigal spouses and our loved ones. Our Lord will restore their souls and guide each of them down the paths of righteousness. "Oh, Lord may we never forget this truth. May we believe and never give up on our spouse and loved ones."

Let's examine an orchid plant. Look at the stems and the leaves. Some of the stems appear totally dead, others are long and have only a few leaves on them, but I faithfully keep watering and fertilizing my orchids, regardless of their looks. Then in their own timing, if I do my part, my plants will start to bloom one to two years after being a baby plant. One day I will go out on our screened porch and will see the beginning of a bloom, which turns into a hanging stem of beautiful blossoms of flowers.

I believe that's the way with a new baby Christian, or a new stander who just "happens" to find our ministry. If you will faithfully stay connected to your Lord Jesus Christ in the Word, and be watered and fertilized by the greatest Gardner, you will start to grow leaves. Your stems will start to grow firmer. You will start to blossom and will bear fruit, in the Lord's perfect timing, which will multiply as do orchid plants that bear baby shoots. These can then become another new plant.

As I look at my orchids at different times stages of their growth, they do not always look healthy and beautiful. That is the same way with you and your marriage. The marriage may not look healthy right now. Most people would consider my orchid dead and throw it out. BUT, since I know about orchids and know that the plants at their different seasons of their life or at the different times of the year, we will have stems that you would never imagine would bud the most beautiful array of blossoms--because I just waited!

That is what you need to do with your marriage. Wait on the Lord for His touch. He brings life to what is dead. He touches our heart and makes us into the person He wants us to be. Then, as we are growing, He starts working on your one-flesh mate to be cared for, watered, fertilized and pruned until they also blossom for their Lord. Be faithful in your part and trust the greatest Gardener to grow your orchids and spouse to bloom for Him, in His perfect timing.

I seem to be so behind all the time. Years ago, when our ministry was smaller, I was able to return every call and talk to people on the phone. Now that is impossible. There are not enough hours in a day. I am always asking the Lord, "Show me how to help Your hurting children." That is why we do daily devotionals and radio programs.

Questions, and more questions. Oh, if only you would ask your Lord and not me! As I get older, I am finding out that there is not always answers for every question from a human standpoint. That is why I turn to my Lord for His wisdom and knowledge. The Bible does not address every issue, but is a guideline for the basics. The Lord left the Holy Spirit to guide each of us and to be our personal Counselor. I believe that the men and women we work with are hurting so much, that they just want the pain gone, now! That is why so many people will ask anyone for their answers and opinions.

I can relate to that, as I have had back pain for a couple of weeks, and that was my prayer, "Pain go away, in the name of Jesus." Standing for a marriage you are not able to take two aspirins and the pain will go away. You need to go to the greatest Physician who is the only One who can heal your hurting heart and marriage.

What are you to do? I would start reading the Psalms to heal your hurts. You will read praises to your Lord, but there are, also deep cries for help. You often will feel that you are right there in the midst of the Psalm. As you read the Psalms, your praises will minister to the deep emotions of your heart by your powerful awesome mighty God. Your Lord does see and know your hurts. He sees what you are going through each day. Call on His Name to help you. He has all the answers for you, your spouse and your marriage.

Today I talked to a stander that we have not had any contact with for over a year. She has two teenage boys who have caused her many problems. It was so good to hear her voice, and then she started sharing her frustration and anger about the boys' inability to help around the house and their disrespect to her. One of the boys, who is out of school, now has a full-time job, but still does not want to help in paying the bills. I listened to her many thoughts and strategies of what she was going to do. I hung up just as I arrived at a sports field to watch one of our granddaughters play soccer. As I sat there with all the parents screaming praises to their children, giving them hugs and encouragements, I thought, "What will ten years do to these parents and their children?"

Oh, please don't lose your focus on the precious gifts of life that you have been given for a short period of time. We have a couple, who recently had their child overdose on drugs. We have several parents who are dealing with children who are in rebellion with alcohol, drugs or their life in disobeying God's and man's laws. A couple of these young adults are now in jail.

Bob and I are at an age, where we can only say, "Thank You Lord, that by the grace and mercy of our Lord, our children did not go far down the rebellious, disobedient highway." I know Bob coming home, was a big turn around for our family, as Tim had just graduated from high school, Lori was 16 and Tom was 8.

I called back the stander, and heard the answering machine. Great! I was able to give a 2-3 minute "Charlyne sermon." Walk in unconditional love. Remember, the prodigal son and his father. Read I Corinthians 13:4-8 and Romans 12:9-end. Also, never forget praying for their salvation as the Lord will change and turn your circumstances all around." In just a few minutes she called back and said, "I got your message." I talked for just a couple more minutes and hung up praising my Lord. Thank You for Your perfect timing. I had her to tell the boys that we are praying for them. Afterward I thought, "I should have said, 'What would Jesus do?'"

May none of us every forget about the Nicky Cruz's, who touched the life of David Wilkerson, and the many others who have gone down the wrong road, but have been touched by the Holy Spirit using others to bring them back to Him and to their family. Don't give up on your children, regardless of their age!

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 11:6

I sat down on the couch to take a break. I picked up a devotional I had on our coffee table. I opened the book and it opened up to today's date! Whoa Lord! I guess you want me to read this? Lord, open my heart and ears to hear Your message. I read the devotional and looked up the scriptures. They spoke to my heart. The Lord brought some thoughts to my mind. I thought about them and then I prayed a simple prayer. Thank You Lord, You are so faithful. It all happened within 5-7 minutes.

"Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:14-16