Robin Gilbert Luftig's Blog, page 26
February 2, 2021
Dealing With Survivor’s Guilt
How could the sun come up when I had a brain tumor? Why did birds sing even though I dealt with this horrific blow? Those were some of my thoughts when I was in the midst of dealing with Survivor’s Guilt.
I asked these questions and more when I survived surgery for my brain tumor (meningioma). While I was thrilled I came through surgery and had a pretty good prognosis, I saw clearly that Life wasn’t fair. What had I done that made God want to give me a second chance? In 2011, I had just come to the most wonderful stage in my life. My husband and I were making plans for our future and the kids were grown with the youngest in college.
Then the bottom fell out. But I was offered grace.
Processing guilt was one of my most difficult burdens to carry. Even though my surgery was ten years ago, my heart still aches when a warrior I’ve met loses their battle with a brain tumor. Most assuredly, know that my heart leaps and rejoices when I hear about MRI’s coming back clean.
But it’s looking in the eye of someone who just got the news that their cancer wasn’t getting any better that has always caused an extra pain in my heart.
Here’s a Secret
When preparing for God’s Best During Your Worst, I did years of research and reading. Why do bad things happen to good people?
My heart landed on the Message’s Lamentations 3:22-24, “God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left.”
Even though the tumor is gone He’s still all I’ve got left.
Tomorrow the sun will come up again, and I thank God for what experiences I am blessed with. Don’t let dealing with Survivor’s Guilt get you down. Even today, when I see the morning I have no delusion that I am promised to see the sunset that evening. So I rejoice in what I have.
What say you?
What do you wonder about? Are you happy … or are you doing what you never thought you’d do? Do you see consistencies … or are you all over the place? Drop me a line. I’d love to chat.
Struggling to find good in your life? Check out my award-winning book, God’s Best During Your Worst, or check out any of my other books on my Book page.
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February 1, 2021
A Marriage Between Readers and Authors
I am about to pop from excitement. February 1 launched the Blue Ridge Readers Connections, a marriage between readers and authors in the Christian community. As a reader of Christian fiction and non-fiction, ever wonder how to get in your hands on the type of book you’re looking for? The online stores are sometimes overwhelming. And the brick and mortar stores are too limited.
BRCC’s aim is to have readers and book clubs have a place to take their reading experience even deeper than just reading that brand new book. At BRCC, you will be able to connect with an author and interact with them. How will they do it? Check out the following:
By having different authors on the hot seat in our Facebook group each month. They will post in advance which authors will be up the week before so you, the reader can be sure to pop in to ask your questions. The authors, in turn, will answer them throughout the day.
BRCC will have authors do Facebook Live sessions where they can tell you about their newest book or maybe their current project.Authors may choose to do giveaways specific to the BRRC group.Authors may look for new readers to be on their launch team for their next book.Book clubs can reach out to authors for possible facetime events on their meeting night.Authors will be posting on the BRRC group page often, even when it’s not their day so you can get to know them and possibly be the first to hear of their next project!BRCC will help you get resources from the author for your book club where they can.You, the reader, will be able to network with other readers in book clubs for ideas on how to start your own book club.Each author is listed in alphabetical order and will have quick links to pick up their newest book.These are but a few of the perks planned so far for the BRRC. Their goal: to give you a link to authors as well as an author’s link to their readers.
The Fine PrintAre you looking for the fine print? Bottom line, what does it cost the reader? Are you ready for this …
There’s nothing … no fine print.
If that interests you, check out their Facebook group.
Why am I telling you this? Because I’m a BRRC author, and I’m dying to get to know my readers better. What did you like best about God’s Best During Your Worst? Did you find Ladies of the Fire entertaining? Are you interested in hearing about the Easter eggs in the novel? Where do we go from here?
Too many questions, but BRCC is the perfect place to ask them. If you have questions for me, I’d be happy to answer them if I can. I want to hear from you! Reach me at robin@robinluftig.com. Let’s talk stories … and the stories behind them.
What say you?
Do you feel like you don’t matter? How has 2021 started? Are you happy … or are you doing what you never thought you’d do? Do you see consistencies … or are you all over the place? Drop me a line. I’d love to chat.
Struggling to find good in your life? Check out my award-winning book, God’s Best During Your Worst, or check out any of my other books on my Book page.
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January 27, 2021
Leaving a Place of Brokenness
It’s so easy to become weary when you spend so much of your life broken. People seldom talk about it, but don’t you think we should celebrate leaving a place of brokenness? We may end up broken again, but how sweet it is to realize we’ve been restored. That’s what happened to me. Here’s a shortlist of my own experiences:
Came from a dysfunctional home – Broken.
Was divorced after a short marriage – Broken.
Experienced the suicide of a loved one – Broken.
Dealt with a brain tumor and was given days to live – Broken.
J. G. Gilbert & Robin, Lake Lavine, MI, 1958
What’s Waiting for you After Brokenness?
The list could go on, but how depressing that would be. The point of adding a celebration is that I was healed after each bout of brokenness. Let me list some points of restoration:
When my own children dealt with coming from divorced parents, finding ways to comfort them came naturally – Restored.
I am now married to an amazing man who loves God – Restored.
My heart is sensitive toward people dealing with suicidal thoughts. I can talk to them with authority and empathy as to what they will leave behind – Restored.
When I thought I was going to die, I experienced a closeness to God that I had never felt before – Restored.
God Wants to Restore
God offers strong words of encouragement to us who are broken. He sees us in our blights (Ex. 3:7), He promises good things (Ps. 85:12), and He promises protection (Ps. 121:4).
Brokenness awaits us all. If we are not in the middle of being broken, we’ve just climbed out of a hole of despair or are getting ready to be blind-sided by an experience we didn’t anticipate.
Allow words of comfort to surround you. Scripture and good friends are key. Let God’s words, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5) resonate in your heart. They were meant for you—not just the collective you, but you, the person reading this blog. Who knows, maybe I was led to write this blog specifically for you as well.
What say you?
Do you feel like you don’t matter? How has 2021 started? Are you happy … or are you doing what you never thought you’d do? Do you see consistencies … or are you all over the place? Drop me a line. I’d love to chat.
Struggling to find good in your life? Check out my award-winning book, God’s Best During Your Worst, or check out any of my other books on my Book page.
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January 26, 2021
Ever Wonder?
Ever wonder how two people can see the same event and come away with completely different conclusions? Do you wonder why one person will blame God while the other worships him?
Do you scratch your head when you see two people afflicted with the same type of brain tumor … one goes on to live a fulfilled life while the other one is bitter? Do you wonder why one will praise God for the outcome and the other one blames him when the outcome is the same?
Ever wonder how life can seem so easy for some and yet so incredibly difficult for others?
I wonder if God wonders, too.
Psalm 16:1-2
Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
What do you wonder about? How has 2021 started? Are you happy … or are you doing what you never thought you’d do? Do you see consistencies … or are you all over the place? Drop me a line. I’d love to chat.
Struggling to find good in your life? Check out my award-winning book, God’s Best During Your Worst, or check out any of my other books on my Book page.
The post Ever Wonder? appeared first on Robin Luftig.
January 25, 2021
Interview with Melony Brown
I had a great opportunity to be interviewed by Melony Brown about surviving brain surgery and the book, God’s Best During Your Worst. Check it out.
Discover some of Melony’s other interviews on her website https://melonybrown.com/
Has Your Faith Been Tested by Fire?Do you feel like you don’t matter? How has 2021 started? Are you happy … or are you doing what you never thought you’d do? Do you see consistencies … or are you all over the place? Drop me a line, robin at robinluftig dot com. I’d love to chat.
Struggling to find good in your life? Check out my award-winning book, God’s Best During Your Worst, or check out any of my other books on my Book page.
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January 20, 2021
Getting a Do-over
Don’t laugh at me, but I love editing. It’s like getting a do-over … and who doesn’t like that?
I’m in the middle of writing the second installment to The Ladies of the Fire series. There’s Lily-Rose Pembrick, a redhead mother of two who only wants what’s best for her children. Fiona Kasey, An African-American domestic worker trying for a better life. And we mustn’t forget Sugar Bowersox, the feisty and unfiltered beauty from Kentucky who is struggling to keep her identity. The 1970s were a turbulent time, yet these ladies found their way. Not only did they make it through, but they also came out stronger than they ever imagined.
In each of their own way, they were given do-overs.
Do-overs
Do-overs. Like the time you put the jar of blueberry jam too close to the edge of the counter and a wayward book sent it sailing. Ugh. A do-over would give you the opportunity to place that jar coward the back of the counter, away from moving objects.
As Christians, our lives are to embrace a facsimile of a do-over. While we can’t erase our dialogue or change a scene-setting, we can review our actions and take any questions we have to our Heavenly Father.
English novelist Rose Tremain coined the phrase, “Life is not a dress rehearsal”. While the saying is true … that we only get one go at Life … we can gain wisdom and grace if we make a point to learn lessons along the way.
What Do-Overs Can Look Like
It’s not difficult to reach for a do-over:
If someone tells you that you wronged them … listen then act. (Matthew 18:15)Seek forgiveness from your Heavenly Father. (1 John 1:9)Change how you respond going forward. (Galatians 5:16)
Open your mind and heart to the do-over. You’ll be happy you did.
(And watch for my second installment of The Ladies series … with the working title, The Ladies Uncover a Secret.)Looking for Your Own Do-Over?
Do you feel like you don’t matter? How has 2021 started? Are you happy … or are you doing what you never thought you’d do? Do you see consistencies … or are you all over the place? Drop me a line. I’d love to chat.
Struggling to find good in your life? Check out my award-winning book, God’s Best During Your Worst, or check out any of my other books on my Book page.
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January 19, 2021
It’s Just This Simple …
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January 18, 2021
What’s That Lump?
What’s that lump on your neck? I remember the words my doctor used during my yearly physical all those years ago. They ring in my ear as if it were yesterday and as I remember watching his face as he put his fingers to my neck and gently examined the front of my throat.
Those were the words that started a new journey of questioning … searching … confirming God’s place in my life. I thought I had dealt with my share of brokenness. Not just with my early years of emotional brokenness due to living in a dysfunctional family followed by years of bad decisions, but the physical brokenness I experienced in 2011 when I had a tumor removed from my brain. During that season, I thought I had figured life out. God was with me, and loved me, and had a plan for my life. Life was supposed to be smooth sailing from here on out.
Delusional Thoughts
How pathetic! What arrogance had filled my heart!
Here I was facing a physical crisis again. A nodule was discovered on my thyroid and I needed to go through the process again; the process of accepting God’s purpose for my life–whatever that purpose would be. I had to once again embrace—with humility—the fact that I did not know what my tomorrow holds for me.
Time to Start Over
I decided to approach this new physical condition the same way I did the brain tumor–with prayers of complete acceptance and thankfulness. First came reading scripture and praying with expectancy. Finding God’s words for me were crucial. I knew Truth was the only thing that could carry me through my valley.
That’s when the most wonderful thing happened. Passages I had always loved took on a new life. An exciting brilliance filled my soul.
Why Am I Telling You This Now?
Why bring up a physical challenge that was taken care of years ago? Today my neck is fine. I had a fine-needle biopsy and the tumor was benign.
The truth was and is still the same–God is always there, and he has a plan just for me. Can you look back over your years and see God’s hand in it? Maybe it didn’t play out how you would have wanted it, but I promise you–no, God’s Words promises you– that you were not alone.
Were you abused? God was there and suffered with you.
Did someone do you wrong? God felt that, too.
Have you just had your “What’s that lump” moment?
While seasons in our lives play out, no matter how dark it may get, know God is with you. Every step of the way.
What say you?
Do you feel like you don’t matter? How has 2021 started? Are you happy … or are you doing what you never thought you’d do? Do you see consistencies … or are you all over the place? Drop me a line. I’d love to chat.
Struggling to find good in your life? Check out my award-winning book, God’s Best During Your Worst, or check out any of my other books on my Book page.
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January 13, 2021
Comfort and Strength
With all the disharmony around us these days, many of us go to sources of comfort and strength that, quite honestly, are not meant to offer it. We often run to social media, politics, or even or finances to help.
Choose to emulate Christ’s strength. Join me in looking at the source of true encouragement and comfort. It’s a beautiful thing.
… if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my (Apostle Paul’s) joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:1-4What say you?
Do you feel like you don’t matter? How has 2021 started? Are you happy … or are you doing what you never thought you’d do? Do you see consistencies … or are you all over the place? Drop me a line. I’d love to chat.
Struggling to find good in your life? Check out my award-winning book, God’s Best During Your Worst, or check out any of my other books on my Book page.
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January 12, 2021
His Message is Still the Same
Ever wonder if Jesus was thinking about the current climate in today’s society when he spoke to his disciples? Did he think beyond the hardships and violent deaths many of them would face? Do his words in Mark 12 still apply today? Are we to still heed Jesus’ words when our world isn’t as we want it? You can trust it–His message is still the same for today.
See Them With Fresh Eyes
Verses 28-30 in the Book of Mark have been referred to as The Greatest Commandment. Follow the verses and decide for yourself.
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
You can even steer away from political differences. A young girl sits alone on the pew, hoping—yet dreading—someone will ask to sit with her. Her clothes are nondescript and she wears little makeup. Her hair is neat yet combed just right to conceal her face. She knows how to blend into a crowd. She’s had years of practice learning how not to be seen. She doesn’t seem to want to be seen … but does she?
Please, see me. Look at me. Talk to me. Let me know I matter. I have a secret I want to share, but I’m afraid to risk it with you.
An elderly man slowly walks into the church and sits down in your favorite spot. It appears he’s missed several bathing opportunities and hasn’t shaved in days. His clothes are worn and his shoes flop when he shuffles. The only glint from him comes from the worn wedding ring he wears on his gnarled finger. He looks a bit sad; a bit lost.
Please, see me. My wife just passed away and I’m so lonely. I want to talk to you, but I’m afraid to show you my pain.
People like these sit in pews across the country every Sunday. Sadly, many of them go home just as they came in: alone and in pain, still searching for relief yet afraid to risk reaching out. Know we can be guaranteed, His message is still the same.
What do we do?
What say you? Do you feel like you don’t matter? How has 2021 started? Are you happy … or are you doing what you never thought you’d do? Do you see consistencies … or are you all over the place? Drop me a line. I’d love to chat. Struggling to find good in your life? Check out my award-winning book, God’s Best During Your Worst, or check out any of my other books on my Book page. [/box] Jesus’ words are very clear. Get to know and involve yourself in the lives of those around you.
We don’t need to offer an intense theological dissertation point of doctrine or a political stance. We may just need to smile … say “hello, my name is ______, what’s your name?” When we see and acknowledge others, they may give us the opportunity to really see them. We may even be able to show them the love Jesus talked about.
Think about that the next time you want to take a political stand or see a visitor at church. Maybe the person across from you has needs that are so great they cannot be spoken. Maybe their fears are too big for them to handle. Or maybe God’s working on their heart and they don’t know how else to react to what’s going on in their world.
It’s not for us to discern when to put Jesus’ teachings into practice, but to read and follow them.
What say you?Do you feel like you don’t matter? How has 2021 started? Are you happy … or are you doing what you never thought you’d do? Do you see consistencies … or are you all over the place? Drop me a line. I’d love to chat.
Struggling to find good in your life? Check out my award-winning book, God’s Best During Your Worst, or check out any of my other books on my Book page.
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