Words of Wisdom

Today I emailed a dear friend from college, Sr. Lynn and asked her to pray for another cherished friend Anna. Sr. Lynn has given her life to serve God in whatever way He chooses. For a few years she was caring for children with AIDS on a farm in California and then later felt like God was calling her to move across the country to Missouri. As a Benedictine Sister of Perpetual Adoration, she used her Bio-Chemistry background to help develop a gluten free host for people who wanted to receive Jesus in Holy Communion, but couldn't, due to celiac disease. So I wrote to this amazing, Jesus-loving woman, Sr. Lynn, to ask her to pray for another amazing, Jesus-loving woman, Anna. Anna is also serving God as a Stay At Home Mom to 5 awesome kids (ages 13,11,9,7,3) and is undergoing surgery tomorrow for a brain aneurysm. Anna gives of herself to her family tirelessly.

What Sr. Lynn wrote to me was so encouraging and so inspirational, I wanted to share it with you in hopes that if you are going through a "fiery" time in your life, that her words could also give you comfort.

From Sr. Lynn:

I have been doing a study on the book of Daniel this Lent. The teacher
drew this example about the three men who were thrown in the furnace. She
said that all of us face fiery trials and that there can be three outcomes

1) God can deliver us from the fire - I know this is what you would hope for Anna -
that she goes for surgery and the doctors say the aneurysm has disappeared
completely and she is healed. When we are delivered from the fire our
faith is built. Our trust in God's awesome strength is built up.

2) God can deliver us through the fire. We can pray that Anna will go through surgery and that all goes well or even if recovery is difficult that she will make it
through. When we are delivered through the fire our faith is refined.
We come to know God more intimately through our suffering and our faith is more
refined.

3) And lastly we can be delivered from the fire straight into God's
arms. While we beg God that this not be the outcome for Anna and her
family, through this kind of deliverance our faith is perfected as we come to
see God face to face.

I am praying that God will show Himself mighty and that Anna will come through this fire like the three young men in the book of Daniel of whom it was written: "When the satraps, prefects, governors, and nobles of the king came together, they saw that the fire had had no power over the bodies of these men; not a hair of their heads had been singed, nor were their garments altered; there was not even a smell of fire about them." Daniel 3:94

You can visit her order's website at: http://www.benedictinesisters.org/