Psalm 39: 7

One connecting between Louie’s difficulties and my own stems from the fact that we both suffer from respiratory issues. For both of us, these issues have detrimental effects on our lives, especially in more physical aspects of our lives. Additionally, and on a more reflective approach, Louie and I have both had to complete, at first, extremely difficult tasks and overcome adversity, and we have both been better prepared for future life events because of it. While Louie overcomes running track, which prepares him for the war, I have overcame chronic headaches and other medical conditions in my own life. Currently, I manage life while experiencing daily continuous headaches, which can become very painful and aggravating at times. Overcoming and living with this condition has made me a stronger person mentally, physically, and emotionally and has effectively prepared me for future adversity I may face. Specifically, the headaches I experience prepare me for the job I wish to eventually pursue: pediatric neurosurgery. This career will require managing my job under an immense amount of stress. Moreover, it will require me to make important, potentially life-or-death decisions on the fly. By persevering through times of difficulty in my own life and by working through the stress of completing school work even when I may not feel the best, I have been better prepared for the career I wish to pursue.

Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams into ashes.Never shall I forget these things, even were I condemned to live as long as God himself.

When someone is suffering or living with a chronic illness it can have a huge impact on them psychologically and socially. Chronic Illness is a condition that is prolonged in duration, usually more than 3 months and is rarely cured (DoH, 2012). Having to cope with a chronic condition might lead to life changes, such as dependency on others, loss of income, which can cause feelings of loss and reduced self-esteem. They can also report feelings of social rejection, poor healthcare and workplace termination due to their presenting condition (Earnshaw, Quinn, & Park, 2011).

An unknown author once said,” Keep your head up. God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers.” I believe God has been giving me a lot of battles lately. One of my battles was on December the nineteenth, when I had gastric sleeve bypass surgery in Oxford, MS. A month passed, and I was doing wonderful. Then I had to go back in the hospital for gallbladder surgery. It has been almost eight months, and I have lost over eighty pounds. It has made me feel like a new person.

hand that holds you”, god's grasp be the difficulty you feel in your life and the fact that he even

In Psalms 34:17-20 it says “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.” I believe this is a great symbolic allegory of the darkness that slavery birthed into our world. Each of these were bonded together in hopeless but in each case and region had different difficulties that had to face. Each using their life story to be a beacon of hope to others that freedom was within reach

Thank you for your text and for directing me to Psalm 103, it is one of my favorites. As far as my health, I have some fairly good days where the pain is controlled with the medication and others that are not, well, not as good. I go for my next five-day treatment next Monday. I was told that patience is required in all of this as full recovery for patients with this condition is slow, but successful in the majority of cases. Carla is doing a little better, but the last bit of the cold is hanging on as colds usually take a week or two to pass. She has to fly out early tomorrow to the Dominican Republic for her work and will be back late the following day. Damaris now has a lady that lives her and is her full-time caregiver. She really likes

Genre: The genre of Psalm 139 is Hebrew poetry, simply because the psalms were written in Hebrew and are a collection of poems and laments. The first principle of interoperation is that the psalms blend experience, emotion, and theology. This should be taken into account while reading the poem in order that the reader does not simply skip over the theology by only focusing on experience and emotion. The second interoperation principle is that each psalm should be read as a whole. Verses of psalms should not be taken out of context, in doing this the reader may distort the meaning of the psalm. Another interpretation principle to take into consideration is the different genres of psalms such as: laments, thanksgiving, hymns of praise, wisdom, and songs of trust. With that being said, Psalm 139 not only falls under the Hebrew poetry genre, but is also classified as a psalm of trust. Lastly, the fourth interpretation principle is that parallelisms are used. In other words, ideas correlate in many different ways such as: synonymously, antithesis, intensifying, specifying, and synthetically.

I realize that the most capable physicians can heal because they have been sick and are able to fix because of their own brokenness. In other words, adversity builds character and changes people for the better. In my case, my disadvantaged upbringing has made me a better person, son, father and potentially a better public servant. After my parents divorced in 2000, my mother and I moved to Little Rock, Arkansas where we struggled to get by. Enduring that hardship with her changed me from an early age. Some nights I stayed at my best friend’s apartment, because we had no electricity. In a sense, this deprivation allowed me to mature and understand that in life you must sacrifice for a larger

This week I was reminded of something that Dr. Falwell used to repeat many times in his messages to the students during my time on campus at Liberty. To paraphrase, “You are either in trouble, just got out of trouble, or the phone call is coming as soon as you get home today.” For many of us, this term has been filled with trouble. I often listen to a sermon series I downloaded to my iTunes from the little book of Habakkuk that has helped me more than I can say, especially over the past few weeks. I take comfort from God’s answer to Habakkuk in chapter 1, verse 5, “Look among the nations and watch— Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you.”I found comfort this week in knowing

The psalms 42 -51 all deal with Israelites particular the Israel leaders. Psalms 42 to 52 were one combine entries. The proper geographical name for each psalm was Judea. The each psalm reference to korah who they were “Levite and leader of guilt of psalmists”(brueggemann and Bellinger 204). The sons of Korah in the Old Testament are truly a tales. The story begins with the Israelites during the time of Moses’ journey through the wilderness after leaving Egypt. The three sons of Levi they were Gershon, Merari, and Kohath. Therefore, the Kohathites were responsible for the care of the sanctuary. They were responsible for the care of the ark, the table, the lamp stand, and the altars. They were under the direct supervision of Eleazar, son

Throughout my college career, I have been faced with several obstacles, whether it has been my physical health concerns, or my mental health concerns. In 2012 I gave birth to a beautiful little girl, however my pregnancy was a nightmare. Upon a crash c-section, and two blood transfusions my body went it to a state of shock. I had developed Eclampsia. A life threatening disease of pregnancy that has left a lingering effect on me since. I have been constantly dealing with high blood pressure, intense headaches, and the recovery of a mini stroke. The strategies that helps me daily, is the willing to be optimistic. To always acknowledge that there is someone else out there doing worst than I am. I have committed myself to taking it easy and taking

As the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119 is a Psalm of delighting in the Word of God. Psalm 119 is comprised of 176 verses that give adoration to God and the Torah.

I'm amazed by the clear majority of “successful” people who overcame adversity and hardship. How do we react to ours? Do we crumble like cookies under the thought of a challenge and avoid them.. or do we conquer challenges and own them? Well, I say, it's up to us. All this [stress] plays into a huge feedback loop that can determine health, happiness, and ultimately our "success". For better or for worse. Why did patients in our readings have such different personal narratives of illness from what seemed to be very similar and even in the same biomedical causes of illnesses? These questions highlight the view that there is a deeper transcending non-biomedical cause of illness, which then, effects outcomes of treatment and healing. I believe an attitude of resilience fostered through experience, plays a huge role in how people react to their illness which then affects how one responds to treatment/therapy. How is it that some people in life have suffered so much and at the end of the day, sometimes after years. not only remain intact mentally, but thrive in the world and carry on with their lives, despite their condition(s) and exposure to trauma. Against all the odds. Through personal experience and evidence presented in the readings. I will persuade you to understand why I feel humans may respond so differently; to treatment and the processes of healing. I don’t expect you to agree with everything I say, you are entitled to that. I only expect that you acknowledge that the

1 Lord, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you. 2 May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry. 3 I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death. 4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like one without strength. 5 I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care. 6 You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. 7 Your wrath lies heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. 8 You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; 9 my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you. 10 Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do their spirits rise up and praise you? 11 Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction? 12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion? 13 But I cry to you for help, Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you. 14 Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your