How It All Began…
Motivation is a curious energy. What works for one person does not necessarily work for someone else. When I first decided to create my blog, I was driven by not only my love for writing but also my need to share how life had taken a sharp and unexpected turn. After being married to my high school sweetheart, Richard Sharp, for almost forty-six years, he passed away at the age of sixty-seven from a rare form of Alzheimer’s Disease called Posterior Cortical Atrophy; words I never had a desire to know how to spell and most certainly, even less desire of living through personal experience. It is, however, my deepest heart-felt desire to help others, like you, learn how to navigate the deepest waters this earthly life may pour your way, while being anchored in the bedrock of God’s amazing love and provision.
You may be wondering how I came up with the title, Treasures of Darkness. I am so glad you asked!
It had been a very long day in the month of March 2011, not long after Richard received the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease or AD (I will use this when referring to Alzheimer’s Disease from this point on.) While siting on the side of my bed in tears of frustration and a sense of failure, I told God that I simply did not know how I would get through the challenge of caregiving if the events of that day were any indication of future days. Mercifully, I had no idea of the challenges that lay ahead.
Even though I had been in Bible study for many years, when I picked up my Bible from the night table, hoping to find solace, I found myself paralyzed, not having a clue where to turn. Adding to my current state now was a sense of total loss. God, please help me! I desperately need to know that You are here with me but don’t know where to look. I need Your encouragement. Please show me that I am not alone. In faith and believing God would answer my prayer, I randomly opened my Bible. My eyes fell on Isaiah 45. This is what I read: This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, [Sherry] whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him [her] and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him [her] so that gates will not be shut; I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel who summons you by name.” [Isaiah 45:1-3 NIV, emphasis mine.]
My tears came even faster but now, they were the result of pure amazement and adoration of my LORD. I knew, without a doubt, that He was with me as well as with Richard and our whole family. He would enlist His holy power to “subdue” every attack of discouragement; He, alone, would rise above every earthly power to make a way where there seemed to be no way; He would “level the mountains” of AD; “break down gates” and “cut through bars of iron” blocking our ability to trust God and have faith in the days ahead. And, added to all of this, God would give us “treasures of darkness“. From that night on, I vowed to look everyday for God’s treasures; not only in my current situation but in every future situation. Hence, the title of my blog.
I hope you will visit this page again and often, as I begin to unfold the story, my story, of how God, through the love and sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, has made my life richer through His presence <3
