Author: Sarah Alley

Posted on

They Kept the Faith

faith

In my mind today, I’m pretty rattled. In all truth the past few weeks have been full of grief. A classmate and former student of mine started their new chapter in heaven. This earthly life is one of many questions and uncertainties. Keeping the faith is so hard when sadness is all around. My prayers lately are “God help me keep the faith. I know I’m but a wretched sinner myself and do not deserve all the good that you give me. Just use me as part of your plan and please forgive my mean words, thoughts, and actions.” Yes, we all have chinks in our character, me especially.
This morning I read about Peter and Paul. It helped to remind me that all is not lost. We all remember Peter’s big declarations, “Lord, I could never deny you!” Then the old cock crows and he is scared and his faith is shaken. In these tough times, I feel Peter’s pain. I know you do, too. Then after the resurrection he tells Peter to tend and feed his sheep. He understands our two big W’s: weakness and wretchedness.
Then we have the Persecutor Saul/Paul. He was super wretched. He was responsible for many deaths of early Christians. God took his sight so he could be able to see the real truth and meaning of life. He became one of the best vehicles for spreading truth and light into our muddled world. The letters of Paul never fail to ignite my heart.
I want to think that today our lives are the worst they’ve ever been. People dying of cancer too soon, brokenness of families, suffering children, and rampant addictions coupled with ignorance make me want to just give up. Toss it all away and just take care of my family and forget all of the nuts out there. My faith just wavers some days like it has the past few weeks. I want to be like Peter and run or roll away in my wheelchair. I make myself pick up my devotional, Bible, and spiritual reading and whisper prayers “God help me. God protect my loved ones. God help me. The world is getting to me. Please hear me. Let me be a light. Don’t let me give up. Help me understand that this life is not all that we have. Thank you for listening.” Your Wretched & Weary Gal Sal

Amen

I keep the faith. Why? It’s all we really have. The world has always been a mess and will continue to be so because humans are broken. Here’s the objective kids: In keeping the Faith, doing good deeds, and creating a culture of love, we win the race. We finish well. Each of our little lives matter in the big picture. I’m trying hard not to give up. Don’t ever give up and walk with me by Faith and not by sight.

Sal the Rolling by Faith Gal

Sarah Anderson Alley
Dedicated to:

Kelly Jo Blair Hicks

Teresa Hughes Milligan
Quote of the Day:

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”

Mother Teresa
“Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.”

Rabindranath Tagore
“Our last earthly breath is the beginning of happily ever after.”

Sarah Anderson Alley

Posted on

What Do You Use as a Moral Compass?

I’ve been on earth almost half of a century. My life has had many highs and several lows. To stay sane you have to just roll with the changes trusting that whatever storm we are facing will pass just as those fun, love-filled times did. Through it all we have to put our best foot forward and finish our race. Which foot should we use? What pace should we run? All these come from our moral compass.When I read headlines or catch a glimpse of the news, it troubles me. Something has gone terribly wrong. There are children hurting so badly that they open fire on each other. There’s human trafficking to fill perverted sexual desires. The abundance of children living with a parent who love getting high more than their precious children. The need for people to escape the reality of this world through chemical means. Are we mentally softer or weaker than generations past or am I imagining things? When the going gets tough we go searching for something at the pharmacy to right it. Is being made of sterner stuff a thing of the past?

There is so much hate and confusion. I read scriptures and pray each day for God to use me. I want to be like Jesus. I want to empty myself and spread love. I want there to be love left everywhere I go. Remember in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis when Aslan comes back and everywhere he prances flowers and plants spring to life? That’s what I envision me doing in my wheelchair. Me embracing my moral compass and everywhere I go leaving a trail of beauty behind me as I roll! Then, I will come to my end and step into eternity and be at peace. It’s urgent for us to dig deep, clean out the garden our souls, and use those compasses that God gave us.

What the world needs now more than ever is to grow our moral compasses. We are currently at a huge crossroad. Everyone wants to be right. Everyone feels they have the knowledge and discernment to be the judge on so many moral issues. We have lost the intimacy of being humans. Sharing meals and taking time to listen to our children and spend time with our elders. Don’t get me wrong. I depend on technology for so much, but the access of so much too soon is a problem. It’s literally poisoning the minds of our children, promoting immoral behaviors, and making everything a world of me not we. We are in this together. Just one kind gesture at a time and we can begin to move toward decency. It costs nothing to be kind and considerate. Being cruel or mean is never an option. We have to find our moral compass or I fear the human race will be lost forever.

Sarah Anderson Alley

Sal the Moral Compass Gal

Quotes of the Day:

“I have learned that as long as I hold fast to my beliefs and values – and follow my own moral compass – then the only expectations I need to live up to are my own.” Michelle Obama

“Conscience is a man’s compass.” Vincent Van Gogh

“Families are the compass that guide us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.” Brad Henry

Posted on

Instead of Waiting for Better Times You Better Create Them

This morning I awoke as Sal the Grumpy Gal. The world is so demanding. Trying to swim amid raising my children, balancing bills, and busily patching potholes of our life’s path had me in a mega funk when I opened my eyes this morning.

Ever noticed how we are always waiting? Lately, I’ve been checking things off my to-do list waiting for a break to be at home, on my machine resting, and with nothing on the agenda. Guess what? Two or three things pop up that need my attention. I know I’m preaching to the choir. We are all waiting for rest, vacation checks to hit our checking account, children to become self-sufficient, cars and homes to be paid off, retirement, and for our lives to just chill down a little. Endless waiting.
The other day I watched a documentary on an exercise guru who joined the ALS Club Med. My main caregiver, Ben, came through the living room and said, “Sal, what are you thinking? Don’t watch that. You don’t need to see it.” He was right. As I watched a handsome, Greek-God looking man wither, my mind went to the dark place of waiting. Waiting to when I’m frozen and can’t whiz my scoot around, roll my dogs, or check out the garden areas in my yard. Waiting for a cure for ALS. Waiting until I want to just stay in bed and wave the white flag. Waiting for my diaphragm to fail. Waiting for someone to scratch that place on my nose because I can’t. Waiting for God to take me home. This happens every so often. I get overwhelmed of trying to live with my limitations. Believe it or not, my family still looks to Sal the Frail Gal to patch holes and glue our tattered lives so we can stick together and have a smoother ride.

If you’re waiting for the highway of life to be smooth, I have bad news. Even Sal the Hole-filling Gal can’t write everything. I can only do the best I can. All we can do is be the best person we can be in each moment and choice we are given.

When I’m waiting for better times or worrying about a huge hole in the road ahead, I think of birds. I think of heaven. I think of plans God has for me. Birds remind me that God will provide. I know Heaven is not of earth. It’s the time when my soul takes flight. I trust the plans for me because it’s not on my to-do list. It’s time to pull up my sleeves and let my waiting turn into action. Don’t waste your time waiting; live. What are you waiting for?

Posted on

They Cried Out: Miracles in the Midst of Storms

Miracles in the Midst of Storms

In Acts 14:11 the crowd cried out. They were amazed. A man lame from birth was walking about. The crowd starting announcing thanks to Hermes and Zeus. The apostles were distraught. How dare they when they had witnessed a miracle in the name of Jesus, the son of God. Where is their faith?

Fast-forward 2,000 years. Are we any different? A beloved friend is given a chance to hold her grandchild while cancer whittles and distorts her bone marrow. Her prognosis was death at 45 years of age but she is now 48 and cherishing her first grandchild. Do we cry out and worship the science and doctors?

Look at the seven year old who had a tragic, fatal ATV accident giving him a traumatic brain injury. He should be severely damaged or dead. Today, he prepares to re-enter school this fall. To whom do we cry out and give credit? The EMT Team, the doctors, or the advancement of surgical techniques are they the gods of this miracle?

Today we have miracles, but do we see God in the mist of each one? For humans when people leave this earth too soon, live with horrific diseases, or suffer daily, we begin to cry out, “Where is God? How could God let this happen?” This is tough, but God is always beside and in those who need him. We want magic. God wants faith. He is close to the broken-hearted. He is with the suffering and those crippled by disease. The ones who acknowledge him are those who smile through the struggles of wearing diapers, withstanding chemo, and letting go to become whole again in death.

What about the 48 year old with cancer? What about the 7 year old with the traumatic brain injury? Was it modern medicine? Was it luck? Was it Hermes or Zeus? God is in everything. He is in science. He is in doctors. He is in the development of medicines and techniques. He guides EMTs, hospice nurses, and people. Today as you see the miracles of God cry out with me, “Thanks be to God.”

Sarah Anderson Alley.  Thanks be to God.  Dedicated to Teresa & Kyler

Quotes of the Day:

“I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.” –  Audrey Hepburn

“Miracles happen everyday, change your perception of what a miracle is and you’ll see them all around you.” –  Jon Bon Jovi

“Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.” – C.S. Lewis

Posted on

Troubled Heart, Take Refuge in God

Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled

All around me are troubled hearts. It just seems that around every corner, in every news story, on social media, and in my small little burg hearts are broken, abused, and trampled. Are all of our prayer petitions for naught? Where is God?

Last night at my book club gathering at our local public library, a former student saw me and quickly came in for a big hug. Gosh, how they grow. I said, “You’re a senior now, right?” He told me he was and how he had plans to enters trade school in Nashville, Tennessee this fall. I was over the moon. You see, most of my students were minorities from severely impoverished homes. I preached setting goals, getting an education, and championing poverty. I, myself, was born in the government projects with a struggling mom, an alcoholic father, and four siblings. I so often felt like I was seeing a classroom full of me as I taught. I had figured out the code of breaking the cycle of poverty: God, education, and service. I held a precious key that I hoped they would accept. Sadly, not all of them do.

He then said, “Did you hear about DTay?” A shadow crossed his face. I said, “No, what’s up?” He lowered his head and eyes and replied, “They found him dead and beaten to death on Old Mill Road by the tracks down from the Eastside.” My heart crumpled within my chest. Only 18 years old and a life tragically ended. These things shouldn’t happen in rural, small towns in Tennessee like mine, but they do. It is a statistical fact. In the U.S., black males ages 15-34 number one killer is a homicide. My heart is troubled. We hugged again and I told him to get his education and my prayers were with him and all my students until my last breath.

This morning I opened my devotional to begin my day. The first verse was John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” I felt like Thomas. I’m lost and I do not know the way out of this mad, mad world that young men die so brutally and often. Let’s not forget cancer, addictions, the shrinking middle class, divorces, and abject poverty. Then I heard, “I am the way. I’m always with you. I’ve gone before you to create a better place. There are many rooms in my Father’s house.” I took a deep breath remembering my student. I know that those rooms are for lost youth, broken people with addictions, and those who struggle to eek by on this earth. My joy has always come from knowing God is for and with me. This isn’t our last stop. If you have a troubled heart today, I urge you to say a simple prayer, “God help me.” God is within those banged up hearts, just open your heart to Him.

 

 

As seen on