JoAnna Lynn Oblander's Blog, page 55
July 25, 2016
Super Mom…
Motherhood is such a tough job. Yet, though the rewarding moments may come infrequently, I believe that motherhood is one of the most important jobs in this world. Few others can shape a child and the world in which we live like a mother. I have seen the effect that I have had on my first four children. (Which I think/hope is mostly positive?!) I have also seen the effect of their birth mother on my adopted children. Although my adopted son was four and my adopted daughter was nine when we adopted them, the emotional damage received as a result of a mother who frequently abandoned her children still continues to plague my children and our family. Their ability to love, trust and allow themselves to be vulnerable has been significantly compromised. Just like innocent victims in a car accident, they are left not really understanding why it had to happen to them and though the damage and neglect was not their fault, they each must be the one who does the work of recovery. I hope that every mother who feels the burden of her frequently thankless job will know that heaven thanks you for all of the sleepless nights, sacrifices made, moral instruction, positive example setting and nurturing that you do and so do I. Though I know that few days FEEL that way, as mothers, we truly are in a partnership with God. With God’s help, we are the ones who are most able to effect positive changes in this world. When the world needs change, God sends a babies into the hands and hearts of women who will raise, nurture, and instill values and principles within those children that will enable them to rise above adversity and become a part of the positive solutions needed to address the various problems of this world. God knows that the super heroes of this world are not leaders of government – they are the mothers (and fathers) who are daily in the trenches of family life; loving the sometimes unlovable, teaching children who often seem unreachable, and giving their families all of their energy even though that energy vanished with the morning chores. Tonight, as you prepare for bed, give yourself a pat on the back; for today you were a part of the super hero work of raising responsible children!
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July 22, 2016
No Matter…
As we finish another week, here is a prayer that I wrote. I hope you have had a wonderful week and I hope that the Lord’s greatest blessings become yours!
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July 21, 2016
See The Miracle…
I love flowers. I look at them and I am enthralled with their beauty. In the intricacies of a flower I see the miracle that each creation of God is. I cannot look at a flower or tree or any other creation of nature and understand how anyone could think it could have been created through the evolution of a simple celled organism. What I see is the creation of a God who loves me and every single one of His children so very very much that He desires to give them the best of everything. That feeling coincides exactly with my near death experience. It was there that I met and talked with God and felt His perfect love for me and all of His children. It was during that experience that I came to understand that God’s perfection and His overwhelming desire for each of us to learn, grow, succeed and to be blessed with all that is His to give.
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July 20, 2016
Find the David within You…
There are days in which the very fiber that you are made of seems stretched beyond any reasonable ability to hold it together. Sometimes those days turn into weeks, months and even years. Such were the days for me when I trudged through severe depression. I look back at that experience now and I have no idea how I made it through. The truth is that “I” didn’t make it through – “We” did. God took me by the hand and we made it through my depression together. I would have never guessed, at the time, that there would ever come a day that I would feel that the pain and suffering was worth it. Yet, here I am and it was. I won’t take the time to go into detail but there is a level of understanding, compassion and passion that I never could have obtained without that experience. When you are having those experiences in your life – don’t try to go it alone. God is there to help you. And know that, in the end, you will find the David within you and you will be better for it.
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July 19, 2016
Soar…
How can anybody NOT be inspired by Helen Keller? I love who she chose to be and the positive influence she continues to have on this world! I cannot imagine understanding the world as she did given her handicaps. Yet, comprehend she did and she absolutely soared above any preconceived limitations! We all fear things in our life from time to time. We all struggle with not feeling quite adequate. However, that is not where we should be content to stay. We each are meant to soar! We each have an important contribution to make to this world we live in! You ARE awesome and you were born so that you could learn to overcome your personal challenges and SOAR! Listen to your heart and pay attention to the messages it is sending you! What are you meant to do?!! What are your special gifts?!! Listen carefully (you may need to find a quiet place) your heart has lots of wonderful things to tell you about yourself!
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July 18, 2016
Available for Position…
I love the wisdom that my “elderly” friends share with me. They are always so insightful and fun! If it is meant to be a part of our life path, we will all become part of that group called the elderly. We can learn so much from our friends with those extra years of life experience. They may have wrinkled faces and bent bodies but their spirits are mostly young and fresh! I love the quote by Deepak Chopra: We are not victims of aging, sickness and death. These are part of scenery, not the seer, who is immune to any form of change. This seer is the spirit, the expression of eternal being. Our voyage in life is not about sagging bodies and wrinkled skin. Age has nothing to do with our relevancy – it has everything to do with our journey! Our journey will not end with the transition called death. Everything we gain in the form of knowledge and wisdom we will get to take with us. What our bodies look like at the moment of our transition will not matter. Who and how we loved, our relationships and the intelligence we have secured is what will matter then – and it is truly what matters now!
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July 15, 2016
The Most Important Things…
If you have followed my recent posts, you know that I have a granddaughter who was severely injured in a rock slide. It only takes a loss or a significant event such as my granddaughter’s accident to understand what is truly important in life. What I saw in heaven mirrored that sentiment. There was no worry about wealth or how many vacations we were going to get to take in heaven. Instead, we were concerned with our loved ones and how we could serve them – the most important loved one we wanted to serve being God himself. It is my goal to live my life so that I can return to heaven with a life history that I can be proud of. I don’t care if I win awards or if I become world famous. I do care that my history will show that I loved greatly and that I served others and made this world a better place to be. If I succeed in that endeavor, I will make the transition back to heaven with a smile and I will be filled with calm and peace.
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July 14, 2016
Never Forget…Feelings
Feelings are real and they determine who we are and what we do more than any other single factor. There many details that were shared with me during my near death experience that I have not been allowed remember. What I have been allowed to retain completely was how I felt during each phase of my experience in heaven. Those feelings now move me and instruct me every day and every moment of my life. Life is the same. We forget details of what we have seen or what we have heard – but we never forget what we feel. Those feelings may not always be in harmony with reality, but we own them and act according to those feelings anyway. It has been my experience that very few of us understand the impact we have on others. So here’s my thought for the day: Let’s try to leave each person we interact with today feeling loved and appreciated. Love and appreciation are great things to pass along!
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July 13, 2016
To Live Greatly…
Today I received a photograph of my 10 year old granddaughter Kamrey. She was smiling – smiling despite being connected to numerous tubes, monitors and a nasal cannula for breathing. She was having a short break from the face mask that normally supplies her oxygen. Kamrey was severely injured in a rock slide and has been in a pediatrics ICU for just over a month. I know, because God has promised, that she will heal and she will eventually resume a normal life. In the meantime, she has been an inspiration to me. She has had tremendous pain yet she has not complained. In the moments since her accident, she has literally feared for her life – yet she has trusted and faced her situation with courage. She has all the reasons in the world to feel like God has picked on her – yet I know when she is able to talk again that she will express gratitude for His help in her healing. I know that when the day comes that Kamrey is able to go home, she will do so with the determination to rebuild her strength and to regain her complete health. Kamrey is a fighter. That characteristic has and will serve her well. Kamrey is also a natural athlete. That quality will also serve her well. However, the quality that will serve her and this world best is her ability to think of others before herself. Just a few months ago, Kamrey was in a race. Kamrey could have placed well in her race but Kamrey stopped to help a struggling little girl who was feeling overwhelmed. Kamrey offered to run beside her and then did. When the race was over, in my mind, Kamrey was the biggest winner of all. Kamrey is an incredible example of living greatly to me. If you have stories of others living greatly, I hope that you will share them with me. In the meantime, will you help me pray for Kamrey? Prayers have already blessed her and given her strength but she has a long recovery ahead of her and I would appreciate all the strength and healing that prayers and angels can provide for my sweet granddaughter 
July 12, 2016
Each Child a Miracle…
Life is precious and so are children. Each of us is a child with great potential and promise. Our bodies may age and our hair may go grey but inside each of us is an eternal spirit that does not age. We learn, we mature, we gain skills – each of those things is an important component of life. We each have a promise to fulfill – that promise is kept by the way we live our lives. When you look at a child and see the potential in them, remember that God sees us as His children and that we too have potential! Potential and promise is not just for infants – it is for all of us.
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