Author: Carol Underhill

God is on the Move Today

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Anytime I fight against the darkness in my life, God moves in with the light.

It was no different this week.

On Thursday night I struggled with sliding towards the pit of depression.

By the Grace of God, He reminded me to Feed the Light that is in me through salvation.

Through praise and worship, that lightness overtook the darkness and I was again set free from falling into the pit.

God is good.
All the time.
Even when our circumstances are not.

Plans for future lessons for children’s church have been rattling around in my brain the past couple of days. More so since I woke up at 3:00 a.m. which is the time I usually like to get up. I go to bed early at night so I can rise early and start my day while the world is silent.

A couple of cups of coffee, some social media until I wake up enough to work on my writing or children’s curriculum.

The Passport to the Promised Land curriculum that I created and others assisted with turned out successfully. We’re learning to work with flannelgraphs. If you’re not familiar with them, they are felt pieces of characters and items in the Bible that are presented on a large board as a story is told

We’ve also used videos, games and crafts to present unique lessons. We’ve stamped our passports and traveled through the Old Testament with Abraham, Joseph and Moses. We’ll cross the Jordan River in another week and then celebrate along with the Israelites who returned to the land God promised Abraham. We’ll learn that God keeps His promises. He promised to never leave or forsake us. He always keeps His Word.

Now that the holidays are nearly upon us, the focus of our children’s church lessons will be on the events surrounding birth of Jesus and how He brought hope and joy and love into our hearts.

Since those lessons are outlined already, I’m looking ahead to what the Year 2023 will bring.

Our church has saved Vacation Bible School curriculum for many years. I’m coming up with the lesson plans and creating my own curriculum, well, me and the Lord that is. And I brought home the director’s manuals for most of the previous VBS programs.

Last night I started searching through them. Today I did some more indepth searching and also looking up the stories that correspond with the lessons from our Betty Lukens Bible story book that came with the awesome set of flannelgraphs our church ordered last spring. We’ve used the flannelgraphs, which are bright and colorful, along with the stories in several of our lessons, successfully.

Last winter and spring, I taught the Bible in chronological sequence beginning with Jesus growing up as a boy and getting lost at the temple. Well, He wasn’t lost. He knew exactly where He was, in His Father’s House. His parents lost track of Him.

After that story we followed Jesus’ teaching and miracles, his death and resurrection and ascension (Return to heaven). Then we continued with Pentecost and the Acts of the disciples in May.

For 2023, I intend to do something similar but with all new stories and lessons. We’ll have the opportunity to put the flannelgraphs to good use..

I spent time last night and this morning organizing most of the lessons into an outline with specific dates and stories we’ll be learning. I’ve marked pages of the VBS directors’ manuals to search more thoroughly and gather ideas from.

I see some exciting things in our future!

God is on the Move!

I’m excited about the possibilities for the future, both for my local church and one day when I publish these lesson plans and make them available to other churches.

Sometimes we have only one child. Usually three or four. A couple of times we’ve had 9 children, and that is exciting when that happens. But we still do the lesson and work the program as much as possible for one or two children as we do eight or nine. Or 12, or 20.

Each child deserves our best effort and the full impact of the lessons.

You see, I grew up in a little country church. We didn’t even have indoor plumbing. The congregation faded away, until it was just our family and a couple of other people before the church closed.

Yet we always had Sunday School. We sang choruses in the opening and had class time. Our teachers prepared the lessons for us even though we were the only ones in the class.

The foundation of my faith began in that little church with those dedicated teachers.

I hope that the lessons we teach will be the foundation on which our children in my local church will build their faith, also.

God is on the Move!

The link to a song by this title is below. The lyrics are very meaningful to me. As evidenced in my own life in the past two days, God moves when we surrender to Him and move from the darkness into the light.

Meet Author Andrea Jo Rodgers

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My guest today is Andrea Jo Rodgers, author of Heaven-Sent Miracles and Rescues, true stories that Andrea has seen from the frontlines in her work as a volunteer EMT.

Andrea, thank you for being my guest today. Tell us a little bit about yourself:
I’m happily married and feel blessed to be the mother of teenage twins as well as two “fur babies” (Dachshund and Shih Tzu rescues). I love working part-time as a physical therapist in a hospital-based rehabilitation center. I’ve been a volunteer emergency medical technician on my local first aid and rescue squad for thirty-five years and have answered over 9,000 first aid and fire calls. This is even more special now because my twins recently joined too, so I get to spend quality time with them while we’re helping others. I enjoy writing books about my experiences as a volunteer EMT, some of which carry over into my job as a PT. I’ve also written two middle grade action-adventure novels. I enjoy watching my children play sports, day trips, reading, walking, playing with my dogs, and spending time with my husband and friends.

It sounds like you have a very full and fulfilling life. Let’s talk about your book, Heaven-Sent Miracles and Rescues. What is your book about?

Do You Believe in Miracles?

For more than three decades, Andrea Jo Rodgers has served her small-town community as a volunteer EMT. Over the years, the incredible events she’s witnessed have taught her that behind the scenes of every dark and dire situation waits a God capable of doing the impossible to help, protect, and save those He loves.

In Heaven-Sent Miracles and Rescues, Andrea shares tales of amazing and supernatural occurrences she’s seen from the frontline. From breathtaking water recoveries, to heroic battles against housefires, to astonishing interventions against medical crises, Andrea’s accounts of emergency rescues will have you reading at the edge of your seat while reassuring you of God’s awe-inspiring power over every circumstance.

Whether you’re searching for affirmation that miracles still happen, or you simply love reading exciting and inspiring true stories, Heaven-Sent Miracles and Rescues will leave you uplifted, encouraged, and on the lookout for God’s divine handiwork in your own day-to-day life.

This book sounds like something I would enjoy reading. I love to read true and inspiring stories.

What inspired you to write Heave-Sent Miracles and Rescues?

Years ago, when my son was nearly three, we were in a life-threatening accident in which our elevator crashed and filled with water. It was truly a miracle we survived. That event made me step back and take a close look at my life. I thought about my relationships with God, my family, and my friends.

I also thought about my goals and aspirations. One of my lifelong dreams was to write a book. The accident inspired me to pen my first book, At Heaven’s Edge. I’ve been writing ever since. Heaven-Sent Miracles and Rescues is my fourth book about my inspirational experiences as a volunteer EMT.

What was the catalyst for your interest in writing?

I recall being a voracious reader by first grade. Even before I could read, I was fascinated by picture books. I wrote my first story when I was in the first grade. It was about how my mother rescued a baby duck from our town’s lake. So, I suppose you could say writing about rescues has been in my blood from a very young age. As I got older, life got busy, and I put my pen down for many years. The elevator accident re-ignited my passion for writing.

Do you have a day job? If so, how do you find time in your day to write?

When I’m not writing, I work part-time as a physical therapist. I specialize in women’s health, urinary incontinence, lymphedema, osteoporosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Most of the time, I work in an outpatient facility, but sometimes I work in the hospital, treating everything from trauma patients to tiny infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Volunteering with the rescue squad also keeps me quite busy, as I answer about 300 calls per year.

Over the past few years, I spent a great deal of time creating a 13-hour continuing education course for rehabilitation professionals about handling medical emergencies in the workplace. I’ve enjoyed teaching it, and soon I’ll be recording it for a company that specializes in online learning. It’s challenging to find time to write, to say the least. I write a few minutes here and there, so I always make sure to have a pen and paper with me in case I have any downtime. I’ve written in waiting rooms, airports, and even at sporting events.

What does your family think of your writing?

I’m fortunate to have a family that supports my writing career. My husband Rick is my “tech support.” He designs and updates my website www.andreajorodgers.com and also creates my bookmarks. Rick and my sister proofread my books, and my children enjoy reading them.

What’s next for you as an author?

I’m currently working on a fifth “heaven” book that includes more inspirational experiences as a volunteer EMT with my rescue squad as well as true stories about guardian angels and near-death experiences.

Thank you for joining me today, Andrea, and sharing details about your inspiring book. Before we go, where can readers find you online?

Readers can find out more about me at my website, www.andreajorodgers.com. It also includes information about my books and links to interviews. They can also find me on Facebook: : https://www.facebook.com/AndreaJoRodgers/ and can learn more  about my experiences  from my latest guest appearance on “At Home with Jim and Joy” earlier this year. https://bit.ly/3TTAwnN

The Testing of my Faith

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“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4

I don’t know if my faith has ever been tested as much as it has been in the last three months. After I lost my husband in 2010 I spent many years in grief, then a lingering depression. Yet in all those times I never doubted that God was with me and had a plan for my life.

As recently as July of this year, I felt that God had brought me out of the dark times in my life and I was now living in the light of His blessings. Things were going amazingly well.

Then in August, my tower of faith began to tumble, one brick at a time. I’ve shared much of the struggles over the past few months in previous blog posts, so I won’t get into the details here.

I think my faith was tested in every way possible.

Well, I thought it had been every way possible.

Now as I face a health challenge and uncertainty about the results, I find that my faith is wavering.

The “What-Ifs” are building up this health problem into the worst case scenarios even as I try to tell myself it’s probably nothing and will easily be resolved. It’s human nature to worry, to want to control the outcome anything we come up against.

Then as our plans start to crumble, we realize how little control we have over some areas of our life.

God is faithful.

He is a good God.

He has a plan for my future.

He is my Provider.

He is my Healer.

I believe these promises for a fact.

Yet I know that everything doesn’t go according to “MY” plan.

I can’t see beyond today to know what “HIS” plan is for me. But I can trust in His unfailing love.

Good Monday Morning 10-24-22

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Good Monday Morning 10-24-22

22 years ago today, my youngest son was born at 4:00 in the afternoon. After having labor induced and receiving an epidural to manage the pain, labor was dragging on until it was getting dangerous for the baby.

By that time the epidural had worn off and I felt the pain as I pushed a third child into the world without the benefit of medication to dull the pain.

The first child was born on the day he was supposed to have been induced. I woke up in labor. I couldn’t figure out how to breathe during the Lamaze classes and anything I did learn was forgotten when the labor pain became intense. When the nurse told me it was too late for pain medication and my doctor would be very upset if they gave me something at that point, I panicked. Needless to say, a short time later I screamed as my firstborn came into the world.

With my second, eighteen months to the day after the first, I woke up in labor and sat up most of the night by myself. The pain wasn’t bad. But by the time I woke my husband up and we made it to the hospital, I knew I was in trouble. I asked for pain medication, as the contractions were getting intense by that point, but my baby was already crowning. The doctor broke my water, and my daughter was born twenty minutes later.

I said to my husband, “Let’s not do this again for at least five years.”

Six years later, I found out I was pregnant but the fetus never developed and it wasn’t a viable pregnancy. I miscarried a few weeks after I took the test.

A few months later, when my cycle was regular again, my husband and I talked about it. We knew we needed to take precautions if we didn’t want another child. Instead, we decided to “see what happens.” Both of us had always said we wanted three or four children (my husband would always add, “or half a dozen.”)

It was no surprise when I became pregnant a few months later.

As mentioned above, by the time he was born, I was in pain and exhausted.

My son was born on October 24, 2000.

I loved being pregnant, and I loved my babies. But I knew I couldn’t go through another labor and delivery.

Besides, I was 35 years old. We considered our family complete and took permanent steps to make it so.

I’m blessed to be the mom of three adult children. Since 2010 I’ve been a single parent. Their dad would be proud of them for the wonderful people they are today. They are supportive of me and also protective. They are worth every moment of pain that I bore to bring them into this world.

Happy birthday, son.

And may God’s blessings be upon you, your sister and brother from this day forward.