You're my Healer.

“ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;, perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5

The last week has been much of a blur. Last Friday, I started feeling weak and I was determined to ignore it. I didn’t want to address the fact that I might be getting sick. Again. I decided that a nice restful weekend at my apartment was a good idea. So I didn’t leave my apartment all weekend. However, I just kept going down hill. On Sunday night, I called my favorite nurse and told her that I thought I was getting really sick. She came over right away and gave me the grim news: probably bronchitis-for the fourth time since December. She ran to the Pharmacy and got me some meds my Dr. ordered and we made plans to go in on Monday. I saw the Dr. and after a chest x-ray and blood work, he determined that I had bronchitis again and that my white blood counts were down-probably a virus. He sent me home with meds and told me to not go to school for five days! What in the world was I supposed to do for five days? Alone? I obeyed orders and rested. (I really did!)

Tuesday and Wednesday I started going down hill-fast. On Wednesday night, I was taken to the emergency room and admitted right away. They started breathing treatments and an IV to help me recover. I was moved to a room, where they continued to monitor my progress. My breathing started to gradually improve, but I was still coughing a lot. In less than 24 hours I had 4 or 5 breathing treatments and several rounds of medicine. Nurse Linda took very good care of me and stayed with me all night. I got more sleep than I had in a couple of days- four hours! I made it through the night and woke up Thursday morning feeling a little better! They discharged me with plenty of medicine and strict orders to stay in bed for the next week. I was able to sleep more last night than I have for the last three days.

Thursday morning as I was reading my Bible in the hospital, the Lord took me to this verse:

“Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; Heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed.” Psalm 6:2

God is definitely a God of healing! He has been such a perfect Comforter to me over the last week. Never in my life have I felt the overwhelming peace of the Lord and his physical presence. I want to thank all of you who have been praying and taking my name before the Throne since I have been so sick. I can definitely say that your prayers have been felt!

I want to also let all of you know that I will be returning to the States on April 13^th to end my term here in the Dominican Republic. My health has deteriorated since living here and it seems that the only thing that will help will be to return to the States. While this is a really big decision, I know that the Lord is Sovereign and has a plan for my future. I really hate to leave and I would really appreciate your prayers as I make the transition back to the States. I am not sure what the Lord has in store for me, but how many people at 22 are already doing their dream job? His plan can only get better right- His dream job for me is much more amazing than what I think is best! I look forward to seeing each of you after I arrive in the States. If you support me financially, I will be contacting you in the near future. Thank you again!

Serving Jesus,

Madison Clair

"Though my health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever." Psalm 73:26

He's got his hand on me.

“It is crucial that in our darkness we affirm the wise, strong hand of God to hold us, even when we have no strength to hold him. This is the way Paul thought in Phil. 3:12:

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” ESV

The key thing to see in this verse is that all Paul’s efforts to grasp the fullness of joy in Christ are secured by Christ’s grasp of him. Never forget that your security rests on Christ’s faithfulness first. (John Piper)”

So thankful that Jesus has his hand on me. He is caring for me and protecting me. He has His best interest for me at hand. He loves me and wants me to flourish. God is so good. Here are a few verses that have encouraged me and strengthened me this week:

Psalm 27:13-14

“I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.”

Psalm 34:14

“Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it,”

Psalm 52:9

“I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it, And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.”

-Madison

You are my Joy.

Warning: this post is real life.

It’s my real struggles and faults. My prayer for this blog is that people would be drawn to Jesus through my everyday struggles. Thanks for reading and for your support.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been really letting my emotions get the best of me. Maybe its because I am just worn out, maybe its because I have days where my health still bothers me, or maybe its just because my focus has faded. I have been clinging to the verse:

“Let us not grow weary in doing good…” (Galatians 6:9)

Before I made the decision to return to the States after June, I spent so much time wrestling with the decision. Wrestling with the feeling that there was shame in making an adult decision (bathed in prayer) that might cause others to “talk.” All my life I have been learning the lesson of living in the freedom of Christ and the beauty of not being bound by the opinions of others. It’s hard and I feel like it gets harder as I get older. During this decision-making, I received a message from one of the Godliest women I know that said, “Madison, no matter what don’t let Satan use this to steal your joy.” That short sentence hit me in just the right way. My first thought was, “He can’t steal my joy!” However, slowly but surely he has tried. Over and over, he has attempted to steal my joy. He has tried to take the joy out of finishing strong and the joy of continuing in the ministry that the Lord has called me to right now. You see, I have once again been learning the difference of happiness and joy. Happiness is very situational and can fluctuate daily- who am I kidding, it can fluctuate every hour. Joy does not depend on our situation. Our joy should come from Jesus. Our joy should flow from the fact that a perfect God sent his ONLY son to a world of sinners to sacrifice Himself for us and bring us to a saving relationship with God. This is joy.

“And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Nehemiah 8:10b

He is my joy and my strength. This may sound a little cliché. Until you have really understood and grasped the fact that no matter what happens, no matter where you are, no matter who you are with, or how you feel, Jesus is still on His throne; you will not be able to experience the overflowing joy of the Lord. I have said this once and I will say it until the day that I die: Jesus Christ is always enough. I want to share a passage from 1 Peter that has been a great encouragement to me this week.

“If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.” 1 Peter 3:13-18

Thanks for sticking with me through this ramble of a post. I pray that you would be encouraged today. Keep your eyes on Him. Have a wonderful day!

-Madison

Top Five Update!

March. Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday that it was Christmas and I was heading back to the DR for my second semester! Crazy how time just flies by so fast! I have been SUPER busy at school making sure my “children” are taken care of, but I wanted to send a quick update on a few things that have been going on.

1) I have started to feel so much better. I am not out of the woods yet, because just when I think I am close to 100% … it rains. I am level enough that I will be completely fine until June! Thank you so much for all your prayers and support! God has been so good to me!

2) My students are making HUGE gains! I have right around 20 students in the SST program and so many of them are functioning above their ability. This has been such a reward to see them making progress not just in their grades, but ultimately in their understanding. Although there are days where I don’t get to sit down or my head feels like it is going to explode on account of me trying to teach things that I seem to have forgotten from high school (go figure!), my job is so rewarding to see the smile on the face of a kid who used to believe that he/she was a failure.

3) My Spanish is coming along great! I am definitely making progress and my confidence has improved! I have a long ways to go, but practice has improved my language dramatically!

4) Pray for my school. Over the last couple of weeks there have been great changes and new perspectives adopted, however, I am so excited to see how things are going to progress. So many of the students at our school are hurting and lost. I am asking the Lord to change hearts, break hearts, and begin to mold hearts to look like Jesus.

5) In exactly, one month my Mom, Step-Dad and boyfriend are coming to visit me in the Dominican Republic! I am so excited. I have been struggling with this feeling of living two separate, totally different lives these past 5 months. Its like the things from home aren’t here and the things from here aren’t at home (try to understand that one…). I can’t wait to be able to share this part of my life with people that I love so much! So, feel free to come and visit me so I can share parts of my life in the DR with you too! (seriously!)

Thank you so much for your love and support! I am so grateful for the prayer that has covered me this past year. God has been so good to me! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or just want to chat! I love emails from home! (madison.c.wheeler@gmail.com) God bless you!

-Madison Clair