Isn’t Life Supposed to be Like This?

We have had a fine month.

My cousin, who I will call Myrtle, came down and spent over three weeks with us. We had a fantastic time. She and my son hit it off like gin and tonic. By the end of her stay, he was taking off and climbing the stairs to look for her. She loves looking after yards, and she helped me transform mine. She and my wife spent hours together doing girl stuff. And we had a lot of family prayer sessions together.

I baptized her in my pool, years ago. She, her son, and her mother came down for Christmas. I had been telling her about prayer in the Spirit, and she wanted to get closer to God. It was in the low fifties, but she went out on the patio with me when everyone else was occupied, and she went under the freezing water. Since then, her spiritual life has consistently improved. Unlike most people I talk to, she has followed through with prayer in tongues in a serious way.

Myrtle took off for home today. We miss her already. I don’t know what my son will do when he realizes she isn’t around. We would have been happy if she had moved in.

She lives in Illinois, which has become a left-wing wasteland. She can’t stand it. She is afraid to say what she thinks because liberals are so dangerous now. She loves this area. She would like to move here. We told her to go for it. I said she had a one-year visa to stay with us while she finds housing and work.

My intention was not to impose a limit but to guarantee a minimum term.

Her mother lives in Kentucky, and she is not doing well. She will have to go into assisted living within a year or two unless she can work something else out. This problem has not been confronted yet, but it is obvious to an objective observer.

Her mother is not going to tackle the change until she absolutely has to. If she could move to this area, it would be very helpful, because this place is set up extremely well for older people who need care. Also, it’s warm, and the people are much more aligned with my aunt’s views. She would also be farther from relatives who have become toxic. Certain members of the family have deteriorated to an extreme degree. They are not good people to be around. Embarrassing and disappointing.

Myrtle needs to sit her mother down and tell her she is leaving, and then my aunt will have incentive to follow her and gain a support system. If they both move down, we will be able to help Myrtle with her, and Myrtle will get her life back.

Maybe she would be able to stay in a mother-in-law residence on her daughter’s property. I think she would love that.

She would enjoy life here much more. That’s for sure. And we and our son would get to spend time with her.

We learned a lot about our son from Myrtle. At 17 months, he is something of a phenom.

He always seemed abnormally strong to us, not to mention abnormally active, but as first-time parents, we didn’t know for sure. When we told other parents, they said they were all like that.

Myrtle was shocked when she saw what he was like. She raised a son, so she knows a few things. We bought him a little chair with an ottoman, and she was amazed that he could lift the ottoman over his head as if it were nothing. She said he was extremely observant, constantly looking around and learning. She said he was way more active than other kids. He started going upstairs alone while she was here, and that also surprised her. We were going to put in a baby gate, but he goes up and down very carefully.

We were eating the other day, and I pulled a kernel out of a corn cob to see if he would eat it. He took the kernel between his thumb and index finger, held the cob in his other hand, and tried to reinsert it. He now runs around the house, refastening the baby locks we have left open.

He runs now. He was running weeks ago, but he trotted like a baby. Now sometimes he really runs, throwing his feet out in front of him.

It was great to have an experienced parent confirm that we were going through something unusual.

He uses the pool now. We got him baby swim trunks. He gets out of the pool by himself. He stands on the third step and walks around. He would be trying to swim if we let him. We just got him a flotation vest that will allow him to paddle.

I don’t know what to make of it, but I’m very glad he is ahead on so many things, even if he is exhausting. He has always been very advanced. His first pediatrician was amazed at his one-month checkup.

If he continues to be big and very strong, it will help him in life. Sometimes I wonder if God is giving him gifts that will make it easier to deal with his enemies. We expect him to become a Spirit-led Christian, and the world hates God’s children, just as it hates the Jews. God gave the Jews an abundance of talents, intelligence, and prosperity, and my belief is that he did it for their protection.

He just went upstairs. I think he is looking for Myrtle. He seems to be realizing she is gone. I hope it doesn’t break his heart, but I suppose it will.

In other news, I got an extremely powerful revelation the other day, or maybe I should say a revelation was re-emphasized.

A while back, God showed me that when we think about the people we love, including him, we should feel as intensely as we would if they had just come back from the dead. Yesterday or the day before, he repeated this to me.

Imagine hearing that someone precious to you had died and then finding out it was not true. Imagine how tightly you would hold them as soon as you saw them. Imagine your relief and gratitude. Love would pour from you. You would feel weight dropping from your shoulders. That’s how we should feel about our brothers and sisters in Christ, all the time.

I started applying this. I applied it to Yeshua, not just the people around me. I lay in bed for two or three hours, praying in the Spirit and feeling as though my face were pressed into his chest. I kept thanking him. I kept hearing, “I embrace you and love you,” coming from me.

I got an unexpected benefit. I stopped worrying. It was as though I exhaled worry and it dissipated in the air. Some things had been gnawing at me, and they stopped. I was able to enjoy life again.

The relief was long-lasting. I feel different all day now. I know I have to stay with it, though. The old feelings could grow back like moss.

I tried it on my son. Usually, he tolerates me when I hold him. He loves me and enjoys playing with me, but when I give him physical affection, he struggles and grins and waits for it to be over.

I decided to hold him and let myself feel what I felt for Yeshua. To my surprise, he relaxed and pressed against me. Since then, he has been warmer to me than usual. He is more relaxed. He lies on me in bed and uses me for a giant pillow.

Why does unrestrained love destroy worry? I don’t know, but the Bible says that complete love casts out fear. It’s one of those mysterious scriptures. You would think love and fear would not be closely related.

I got more revelation related to all this.

The most important commandment is to love God. The second-most important commandment is to love others as we love ourselves. We don’t do a great job with either of these. For example, we say we love God, but most Christians have never perceived his presence, so it’s hard to say we love him.

If you feel the presence of Yeshua, and you pour love into him as though he were a loved one who had just come back from the dead, you will be fulfilling the first commandment.

It’s interesting to note that he really has come back from the dead. It all makes more sense if you consider this. After he died, he descended into hell instead of returning straight to heaven. The Bible suggests he went to preach to the souls in Sheol so they could be saved. He didn’t stay in hell, because damnation couldn’t cling to him. If you have never sinned, damnation has nothing to hold onto.

Another interesting thing: just as he returned to Earth from hell to help the disciples get the church going, he will also return to Earth from heaven to rescue his children before the tribulation. He will come and get us. After the tribulation, he will return to Earth again and rule for a millennium.

The Bible says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” But also consider the love it would take to motivate someone to leave heaven and live here for a millennium.

God reminded me of the story of the prodigal son. After the son returned, his older brother complained that there was a great celebration. He said his father had never thrown such a party for him, although he was obedient. His father said this:

It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

Just before he told the story, Yeshua said, “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” They rejoice because one who was dead is alive again.

It’s remarkable how it all fits together.

We are hoping Myrtle comes back soon, permanently. It was wonderful, having even a small part of my formerly-close family restored to me, and as family, we can all be very helpful to each other.