Thursday, May 24, 2012

Will your Child Survive Graduation Day?


Will your Child Survive Graduation Day?

Is there any family in the area or country that has not been affected by addictions or recreational drug use? I know my own has and because of this I seek education at The Substance Abuse Task Force meetings. There you will find people from every sector of the community, medical, educational, DCF, NOPE (The Narcotics Overdose Prevention & Education) and people of the Faith community, but the ones that have gripped my heart are the parents who have lost children.

One man introduces himself as the father of a dead child; in this case it was not an addiction problem but kids celebrating their graduation last year. How heartbreaking, and yet how many of us can say, "There but by the grace of God go I?" 

When I met the grieving father after the meeting the only comfort I could give was to say I would pray for him, give him a hug and these words:

 "I know when your son woke up the morning before he didn't think or plan, 'Tonight I will break my father's heart.'"

Although that was what happened, it was a horrible accident, of kids using one drug, one time too many. Young people are not thinking when they use recreational drugs; they are just doing it to fit in with their friends. In some small way, please get the word out, "One time may be one time too many."


This father still has unanswered questions. He doesn’t know if his son was a willing participant or not at this time.


Parents please talk to your children especially with Graduation Day approaching; I liken this conversation to being a watchman on the wall as portrayed here:
“Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen all the day, and all the night, they shall never hold their peace. You that are mindful of the Lord, hold not your peace.” (Isaiah 62:6 Douay-Rheims Bible)


Many of us try to prepare ourselves for the possibility of loss in our families, with recreational pills so prevalent in the younger generation. The statistics show that the national average is 50 people die a day in our country; we need to acknowledge we have a problem here, people, and educate our families. Common things in your home such as Pam, Nyquil and aerosol whipping cream can also be a source of misuse. I’ve learned about Pharma or Skittles parties where kids take medicines from their parent’s and grandparent’s medicine cabinets and throw them all in a bowl. The bowl is then passed around and the kids take some, not knowing what exactly they are taking. The potential for danger in the wrong drugs interacting is incredible! 

Parents, friends and youth workers in the community be aware and take the time to talk to the youth that you love..

 Their heart cried out to the Lord,
“O wall of the daughter of Zion,
Let tears run down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief;
Give your eyes no rest.
 “Arise, cry out in the night,
At the beginning of the watches;
Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.
Lift your hands toward Him
For the life of your young children…(NKJV) Lamentations 2:18-19

Join me in praying that the upcoming Graduation Days will be full of family joy instead of the trauma of substance abuse.

Sometimes seeing a real face to go along with the story helps; this was someone's son, Morgan Andrew Denney: http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/southeast-volusia/2011/06/02/new-smyrna-teen-taken-off-ventilator-dies-police-look-into-drug-connection.html 

Donna Collins Tinsley, wife, mother and grandmother, lives in Port Orange, Florida and has been included in several magazines and book compilations. Find her at Facebook, http://thornrose7.blogspot.com/ or join Somebody’s Mother Online Prayer Support Group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/119408188089314?id=244911885538943

 

Sunday, May 20, 2012

“Lead Me’ again


I have been thinking about the song, “Lead Me" especially as I think of the younger generation raising children without a true clue of the heart of God concerning a child. I know of young fathers that had no role model and the frustration of joblessness, no money, no transportation and so many other issues leads to despair, I’m sure. As for Lead me, a lot of this is a repost, but it is true for so many: A wife’s heartache, a child’s plea, a husband’s cry for help, it is all there in this beautiful song. A lyrics award should go to this couple for truth and honesty; they portray the hurt and pain that are in so many families. To be fair, though, many husbands just haven’t had the role model to be able to truly lead their families. That is why they would rather work or try to fill their own emptiness with hobbies or anything that will pacify the pain. Most men feel it is their job to “fix” their family and when that is easier said than done, they retreat. It truly won’t be fixed until they do as is said at the end of the song, yield to the Lord:

So Father, give me the strength

To be everything I'm called to be

Oh, Father, show me the way

To lead them

Won't You lead me?

No one can do it alone and thank God through the Lord Jesus Christ, we don’t have to. This post from What the Lord is Saying Today seems to go along with this song: May 20, 2012. This word is to men. Rise up. Take courage. Lay all your fear aside. Take your rightful, correct place among people and step up to front line. Fight for what is true, accurate, and proper. For too long some have acted in a cowardly manner and sat on the sidelines. Women have stepped to the forefront because men refuse to. This is not a condemning word, but rather an encouraging one. Have noble, upright, and honorable cause in your behavior. Operate from My principled precepts. Be strong and courageous in your thoughts and actions. You have been set apart. Take your rightful place right now as a leader among men.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (NASB) "Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." Kevin Robinson
"What The Lord Is Saying Today," © Fullness In Christ Ministries, Inc.,
Permission is granted for non-commercial use to reprint these articles in hard copy form, as well as sending them to your own email lists and posting them on your own websites. We ask only that you keep the date of the word, "What The Lord Is Saying Today," and the author's name (Ras and/or Bev Robinson and/or Kevin Robinson) intact and include this entire copyright notice.  For any other use, please contact us at: info@fullnessnetwork.net.


Here's the lyrics: Sanctus Real - “Lead Me”

I look around and see my wonderful life

Almost perfect from the outside

In picture frames I see my beautiful wife

Always smiling

But on the inside, I can hear her saying...
“Lead me with strong hands

Stand up when I can't

Don't leave me hungry for love

Chasing dreams, what about us?


Show me you're willing to fight

That I'm still the love of your life

I know we call this our home

But I still feel alone”


I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes

They're just children from the outside

I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine

They're independent

But on the inside, I can hear them saying...


“Lead me with strong hands

Stand up when I can't

Don't leave me hungry for love

Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight

That I'm still the love of your life

I know we call this our home

But I still feel alone”



So Father, give me the strength

To be everything I'm called to be

Oh, Father, show me the way

To lead them

Won't You lead me?

To lead them with strong hands

To stand up when they can't

Don't want to leave them hungry for love,

Chasing things that I could give up


I'll show them I'm willing to fight

And give them the best of my life

So we can call this our home

Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone


Father, lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone
Don’t forget to play the song; it is awesome: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lead+me+sanctus+real&aq=0

Sunday, May 13, 2012

It's Not Hallmark Around Here, but That's OK


It's Not Hallmark Around Here, but That's OK
 

I try to sleep as long as I can
I pull the covers over my head
I pray there's some way
That life could skip a day to Monday
( lyrics Mother's Day by Kellie Pickler))

Can you relate to a Mother's Day that is not "picture perfect?" As women, I'm sure we all wish we had the picture perfect families that Hallmark portrays, but that is not reality for some. As I read many letters full of pain online on several support groups, I pray, "Lord, please be with that hurting mother and help her child." 
 
There is Hope and last Saturday I was talking to "two sisters among us, with the same story and worse that some of your children are living and they are now clean and sober and living a decent life. .
 
 
Long ago, before there was The Addict's Mom and Somebody's Mother Online Prayer Support Group, I was a mother, with a daughter on the streets, bearing a lot of pain for myself, my daughter and all the other members of our family alone. Although in saying that I was never really alone as I had my heavenly Father who drew me, comforted me and led me through many, many years. I had a burden for the daughters that were addicted and thought that was supposed to be my ministry; to get the word out that they were out there and needy and maybe it wasn't their fault they were sick and addicted. I wrote "A Sister Among You" with some thoughts along that line. 
 
But then as the years and the tears continued I began to have the burden for the mothers of the addicts. Once when my daughter was in jail, she told me about a friend of hers who was worried about her mom. I decided to go see that mother, a stranger to me but a sister to me, also, in heart.
 
After the visit, this mother who had lost her only son to suicide and didn't have much hope for her daughter wrote me a letter. She was so grateful for someone to reach out to her, although I really didn't do anything special. For some reason I kept that letter. This mother died soon after, but I was able to give the letter she wrote me to her daughter afterwards via my own daughter.
 
I met this woman's daughter Saturday. She hugged me and was clean and sober. She said "That letter is the only thing I have from my mother. Her husband left and took everything, not giving me anything to remember her by. I knew your daughter way back when; we were both on the streets. I never believed I could ever live a life that I am living now. Look at us!"
 
She told me that she tried several times to get sober "for her mom" but it wasn't until five years after her mom died that she was able to do it for herself. That is the key, the timing and the work has to be done for yourself. I also believe as I mentioned recently that the chapter of our book that the Lord wrote before the foundation of time is in His hands. We may not like the chapter we are in as mothers, but we must go through it to get to the last chapter and hopefully a happy ending.
 
For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them. Psalm 139:13-16
 
We had a big sandwich hug, this young woman, my oldest daughter and me. They were both in town to be a part of a NA convention, staying on the beach, partaking of a good life. There is Hope!
 
Recovery may not be all that we hope and dream as mothers. When they were in our wombs we never pictured that we as mothers, or they, as our beloved children, would walk some of the paths that we have walked. Some people may have their whole families restored; some may not. But we can cling and adhere to a our heavenly Father who does love us, love our children and has a plan to make the tattered and soiled fragments of our lives into a beautiful tapestry one day.
 
Our tears are of great value and will water a beautiful garden of souls and flowers in the garden of the Lord. There will be beauty that we never imagined we would see and feel one day as we let go and let God, one day at a time. He is near us to help us and will never leave us and what more can we ask but that. Together we are strong and I pray for each of you with love, hope and prayers, every day in every way. And as always I pray that the Lord be with that mother who is hurting the most, knowing only He knows which one that is. One thing I have always believed is this, "I may not be able to help my own daughter, or your daughter, but I'll be able at some point to help "Somebody's Daughter." And hopefully, Somebody's Mother, too!
We welcome all mothers over at Somebody's Mother Online Prayer Support Group. 
Donna Collins Tinsley
Subscribe to follow this blog and Email me at thornrose7@aol.com if you would like a free copy of "A Sister Among You."
 
 

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Do you carry "portable peace" within you?

I just read a great devo on CBN.com. I love this devotional and the phrase, "portable peace." What a wonderful example of a way to live and I pray that we all take notes from this woman, although the spirit of encouragement within her was surely a precious gift from our Lord. Concerning the comment from Cynthia, I pray for your family and stand with you claiming that the Lord will restore the years that the locusts have eaten. You are not alone. There are many who have fractured families among us and it truly is something that only the Lord of Hosts can heal.
 

Friday, May 4, 2012

Port Orange and the National Day of Prayer

Port Orange and the National Day of Prayer was a winning combination last night. I have to admit I nearly stayed home, as I had one of those rare opportunities for time completely alone and thought I would just spend time praying alone. But this event only comes up once a year, and it is a time for us to thank the Lord for the freedoms we have to gather and praise His name. What an awesome line-up of music and pastors praying for us; too many to name although, of course I have to mention Pastor Ray Dubois of FWC.  He was powerful in his prayer for our children, teens and college students in the community.
 I was an instant fan of Michaell Reilly Hancock of Resources For Women as the anointing of the Lord was so upon her as she prayed a powerful prayer of standing up for life for the unborn. I would say the spirit of Deborah rests upon her. She and her husband, Pastor Mark, (who is the president of Word Weavers of Volusia) are a powerful force in the body of Christ locally. What a blessing to live in a city that actually believes in praying for each other and our nation. An awesome night it was, with the breeze of the nearby water and the Holy Spirit giving us a reprieve from the heat. To God be the glory!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

National Day of Prayer! Pray, people!



  • Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help. That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes! 1 Peter 4:7-11 The Message

    I pray today especially for the parents who have been hurt by the addictions of their children. I know each parent is praying for God to have mercy on their child or grandchild and we will stand in agreement with them that this pain will end one day. Praying for peace for the day, strength and mercy to just do the next best thing, go to the next support meeting or prayer group and have the grace t...o forgive one more time. As long as there is breath within them there is Hope. Many among us have lost their children already and for them I say an extra prayer.
    Love, hope and prayers always every day in every way.


    A song and a prayer for your day that you will always know that somebody's praying for you:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI_h_IRfRe8