Kerry Pardue’s Reflection

As I sit here and think about what I want to write this reflection, I am thinking about some of the bumps in the road for me this past year.  Each of us in one way or another has had to face them.  Has it been a fun or enjoyable journey?  To be honest, I have got to say “no way, Jose.”

Don’t get me wrong. It has not all been pain and the knocking me on my rear-end bad kind of way.  I think it is how we see events like a reflection in the mirror.  Am I sure I am really seeing or feeling all of this now, or is it somehow distorted? Is my view being blocked by the sun or distorted because of a fog I am sitting in, or I am so worried that I can’t think about nothing except failure?

Christmas of 2023 was supposed to be a great time with family.

I was standing by the mailbox talking to a neighbor when I turned to go back into the house. I tripped on my own feet causing a fall where I broke my hip and my pelvis, resulting in a hospital stay away from everyone.  Along the way, over the next 12 to 13 months, I was in the hospital seven times with pneumonia.  I had a series of 13 falls that caused breakage of six ribs, a broken neck twice, and a broken back three times.  What a mess I was.  Clumsy and damaged.  My impatience was difficult to overcome, and you can be sure I was saying things like “poor me, why me, if only I did this or that”.

For a short period of time, I just knew that God was punishing me!  I think it strange when bad things are happening, we do look to God.   Not so much asking for His healing but asking why did you allow this to happen to me?  You know the typical feeling, sorry-for-myself mentality.  There were a couple of days I knew I was dying, but God had other plans for me.  He wasn’t done with me yet.

Now is it March 23, 2025, and I am sitting in a different view.  The sun is out of my eyes, the fog is now gone, and my worries are much less — mainly because I received a phone call from a hospice organization telling me one of my doctors referred them to me.  WOW, you won’t believe all the thoughts that came with that news.  I was given a new name from Pastor Mark – “Lazarus.”  Every time, I see Pastor Mark now I tell him Lazarus reporting for duty or SURELY, I STINKTH NOW.  We both get a laugh over that.

I got a real blessing out of the following verse, for God tells me to just have faith, fear not, wake up, and do something to bless someone else.  I know that when I give back, I no longer think of the things that could go wrong and feel the love of God surround me.

Psalm 27:13, “But I have sure faith that I will experience the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living!”

A bump in the road can cause a delay, but it doesn’t mean that you won’t get to your destination.

Life has a way of testing our faith, yet God’s timing is perfect. Even if we may not be able to see things in the natural working order, consider these three things every day when there appears to be a delay or in every situation. (1) Does God know about the situation? (2) Is the situation you are facing too hard for God? (3) Does God have a good plan for your life?

Be blessed my Praise and Worship family. Just know that God wants the best for us, and you are loved beyond measure.

A second special blessing today as I look at the date.  I came home from Vietnam on March 23, 1969 — 54 years ago.   Isn’t God the greatest!?