I had the wierdest thing happen the other day. A very good friend of mine has been having some strange symptoms. She is definately not a hypochondriac or the type of person that complains about the little stuff. So for her to even say anything really got my attention.
She beat around the bush for a few days, but finally told me what she was thinking. She thought that she might possibly have ovarian cancer. Woah!!! She was in tears thinking about what would happen to her kids and so on. I was just in shock. She is the kind of person that is really in tune with herself and I knew she wouldn't even say it out loud unless that was really what she thought.
She was going to go in to the doctor the next day to have an ultrasound to see and she asked me to pray for her. I began praying that evening, but it was different. I hate to say this, but I just had a different intensity. I felt guilty... I should be praying for every need with that kind of focus and intensity. I started to pray and naturally I prayed that this would not be so... and if it were so that God would do a miracle and just take this away... but this is where it got wierd....
I began to think back over the past. A year or so ago our pastor read from a journal of a lady that passed away from cancer. And in her journal in her dying moments she said that she was thankful for the cancer.. yes, you heard me right... thankful. It had given her such focus and clarity. She loved her family better. She loved the Lord better. Everything she did, she did at a greater level . She said that if given the opportunity to go back and change things that she would choose this same path. And not to long ago I spoke with someone who was terminally ill with cancer and they said the same thing.
I had this moment where I really didn't know what to pray. I know that God says that He wants to give us the desires of our heart, so it isn't wrong to ask for something. But I also know that sometimes God sends us down a path that we would never choose in order to bring about the change He has promised to complete in us... to be like His Son.
I am not sure what the answer is, but I know that God knows our hearts and He understands us better than we understand ourselves and in Romans 8:26 it says that "the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered." So for that I am thankful. The sovereignty of God is a mind boggling thing...but I am so thankful that I can count on it even though I can't completely get my head wrapped around it.
By the way, she had the tests and there is no cancer. God is good... but even if there had been it wouldn't change His goodness. It's like the song 'Bring the rain' says..... "can circumstances possibly change who I forever am in You?."
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
The BIG 50!!!!
Mr Clean recently hit the BIG 50!!!! He seems to be taking in stride, but I expected nothing less. He is definately not deficient in the self esteem department. The kids have enjoyed running through the house yelling. "OH NO..... THE BIG 50!!!!" constantly. I think I may have had a hardest time with it .
The other day I was teasing him and said, "I don't know if I am okay with having a 50 year old husband. When I married you ... you were 45 and I guess I thought you would just remain that age forever."
And in true Mr Clean fashion he turned to me with a smirky little smile (that always means I am about to get zinged) and said, 'Yeah... when I married you ...you were a twenty something year old... Now you are 32 plus you have had two kids. Iimagine how I feel....." Bam... I shouldn't play with fire if I am not willing to get burned.
Normally that would be the point where I would get mad, huff, and then sulk all day, but I asked for that one... plain and simple.
However, I can't say that I completely let it go without a small measure of revenge. I thoroughly enjoyed making the call to the doctor's offce to set up his yearly check-up.....knowing that at age 50 every man needs to have a colonoscopy...... heehhheeee... we will see who gets the last laugh....
The other day I was teasing him and said, "I don't know if I am okay with having a 50 year old husband. When I married you ... you were 45 and I guess I thought you would just remain that age forever."
And in true Mr Clean fashion he turned to me with a smirky little smile (that always means I am about to get zinged) and said, 'Yeah... when I married you ...you were a twenty something year old... Now you are 32 plus you have had two kids. Iimagine how I feel....." Bam... I shouldn't play with fire if I am not willing to get burned.
Normally that would be the point where I would get mad, huff, and then sulk all day, but I asked for that one... plain and simple.
However, I can't say that I completely let it go without a small measure of revenge. I thoroughly enjoyed making the call to the doctor's offce to set up his yearly check-up.....knowing that at age 50 every man needs to have a colonoscopy...... heehhheeee... we will see who gets the last laugh....
GREAT JOY
It's wierd... I have been looking back over my blog and I see a pattern... I guess I am more of a winter time blogger. I really enjoy it when I do it, but I guess I just get seriously sidetracked when its nice and sunny outside. Not to mention that fact that I have two very 'active' boys. I can't make it if I don't let them run loose outside some during the day. But I am glad to be back blogging for now. Its been neat to check back in on blogs I haven't read in a long time.
I can't believe that Thanksgiving is over and that we are on the countdown til Christmas. Every year we scale back more and more on the commercial side of Christmas and focus more and more on the true meaning... and I enjoy Christmas more and more each year that we do.
Here is a Christmas thought for you.....
Luke 2:10.... Then the angel said to them, "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
The good tidings or good news was that the Savior was born. In Matthew 1:21, it says about Mary that she 'will bring forth a Son and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.' We all have sin. We are born with a sinful nature and none of us can do anything about it own our own. Ephesians 2:8 says For by grace we have been saved through faith not of works lest any man should boast.. But that is the beauty of it all.
We are a sinful people in need of a Savior and that is exactly what God gave us thru this tiny baby born to Mary.
He grew into a sinless man that died on the cross so that we might be reconciled with God.. 2 Cor 5:21... For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The greek root of the phrase "great joy" means a calm delight or a sense of satisfaction. In the world in which we live people have more and accomplish more and are exposed to more than people ever have been in history...yet we are not satisfied. We are looking for "great joy" in all the wrong places.... in relationships, material possessions, jobs, hobbies, our kids, etc...
Some of us seek satisfaction through our own efforts of trying to be "good" and do "good". But in Isaiah 64:6 it says that our righteousness is like filthy rags . So nothing we can do in our own strength and ability will stand when exposed to the holiness of God.
In Luke 2:14, it says 'Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men'. Christ brings us peace. He brings us the only peace that lasts. God wants us to be at peace with Him by accepting Christ and His work on the cross. And when we are at peace or reconciled with God then He can give us His peace which surpasses all understanding.
When God gives us His peace we can go thru anything, no matter how difficult or impossible it may seem with satisfaction and contentment in our lives. He can give us a peace that doesn't depend on our situation or circumstances here.
GOD TAKES BROKEN PIECES AND GIVES US AN UNBROKEN PEACE.
And if you will notice in verse 10 it says that these good tidings of great joy will be to ALL PEOPLE.... not just a few or some, but ALL.. Salvation through Christ Jesus is for everyone. He died for every single one of us not just the best of us or the ones of us who seem to have it fairly "all together". But also for those who can't seem to ever get it together... those that struggle with addictions and habits that hold us in bondage. Salvation is for anyone who would believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for their sins.
And if you will notice in Luke 2:15, what did they do next after hearing this great news? They began to look for Jesus. My prayer for all is that we will be looking for "great joy" in all the right places not only this holiday season but throughout the year. ------Seek and you will find.....( Matthew 7:7)
I can't believe that Thanksgiving is over and that we are on the countdown til Christmas. Every year we scale back more and more on the commercial side of Christmas and focus more and more on the true meaning... and I enjoy Christmas more and more each year that we do.
Here is a Christmas thought for you.....
Luke 2:10.... Then the angel said to them, "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
The good tidings or good news was that the Savior was born. In Matthew 1:21, it says about Mary that she 'will bring forth a Son and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.' We all have sin. We are born with a sinful nature and none of us can do anything about it own our own. Ephesians 2:8 says For by grace we have been saved through faith not of works lest any man should boast.. But that is the beauty of it all.
We are a sinful people in need of a Savior and that is exactly what God gave us thru this tiny baby born to Mary.
He grew into a sinless man that died on the cross so that we might be reconciled with God.. 2 Cor 5:21... For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The greek root of the phrase "great joy" means a calm delight or a sense of satisfaction. In the world in which we live people have more and accomplish more and are exposed to more than people ever have been in history...yet we are not satisfied. We are looking for "great joy" in all the wrong places.... in relationships, material possessions, jobs, hobbies, our kids, etc...
Some of us seek satisfaction through our own efforts of trying to be "good" and do "good". But in Isaiah 64:6 it says that our righteousness is like filthy rags . So nothing we can do in our own strength and ability will stand when exposed to the holiness of God.
In Luke 2:14, it says 'Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men'. Christ brings us peace. He brings us the only peace that lasts. God wants us to be at peace with Him by accepting Christ and His work on the cross. And when we are at peace or reconciled with God then He can give us His peace which surpasses all understanding.
When God gives us His peace we can go thru anything, no matter how difficult or impossible it may seem with satisfaction and contentment in our lives. He can give us a peace that doesn't depend on our situation or circumstances here.
GOD TAKES BROKEN PIECES AND GIVES US AN UNBROKEN PEACE.
And if you will notice in verse 10 it says that these good tidings of great joy will be to ALL PEOPLE.... not just a few or some, but ALL.. Salvation through Christ Jesus is for everyone. He died for every single one of us not just the best of us or the ones of us who seem to have it fairly "all together". But also for those who can't seem to ever get it together... those that struggle with addictions and habits that hold us in bondage. Salvation is for anyone who would believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for their sins.
And if you will notice in Luke 2:15, what did they do next after hearing this great news? They began to look for Jesus. My prayer for all is that we will be looking for "great joy" in all the right places not only this holiday season but throughout the year. ------Seek and you will find.....( Matthew 7:7)
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Man, it has been a while.
Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving....one of my most favorite times of year.
I have so much to be thankful for.... don't we all. I think living here in America we tend to think we don't have much, but when you take a real look around we are in the land of plenty. We get so wrapped up in keeping up with the Jones's. We have a mindset that we don't have enough when in truth we have too much. We have so much that our attics and garages can't contain it all and we have to rent storage spaces. We have no clue how much we have.
I look around in the world and I see people dying every day from diseases that are caused by filthy living conditions, no clean water, and a lack of food.. It is insane to think that I flush more water down the toilet in a day than alot of folks have to drink in a week. .... Yet at times I find myself thinking that I don't have enough... imagine that. We are so sheltered to the reality of day to day life for so many.
On the other hand, I think we are seriously deficient in some areas. Look at all that we have been blessed with and how God has provided for us as a nation and yet we turn our backs to Him. We are in love with the gifts and not the giver alot of times. And we are willing to be partakers in the good times, but we aren't willing to suffer... at all. We are a nation that wants what they want right when they want it. We aren't willing to work hard and perservere. We just do whatever gratifies us at the moment.
I think of all the generations in the past that have sacrificed so that we can have the freedom and the lives that we have and instead of appreciating and cherishing it we have destroyed it. But that's a rant for another day... heeheee.
I always find that my grattitude is greater around Thanksgiving. I try to sustain that attitude through out the rest of the year, but it wanes from time to time when.I get caught up in consumerism and myself. But each year I grow in the Lord and each year I know Him better and the more I know Him the more I am thankful for ALL that He has done.
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good and His love and mercy endures forever.
Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving....one of my most favorite times of year.
I have so much to be thankful for.... don't we all. I think living here in America we tend to think we don't have much, but when you take a real look around we are in the land of plenty. We get so wrapped up in keeping up with the Jones's. We have a mindset that we don't have enough when in truth we have too much. We have so much that our attics and garages can't contain it all and we have to rent storage spaces. We have no clue how much we have.
I look around in the world and I see people dying every day from diseases that are caused by filthy living conditions, no clean water, and a lack of food.. It is insane to think that I flush more water down the toilet in a day than alot of folks have to drink in a week. .... Yet at times I find myself thinking that I don't have enough... imagine that. We are so sheltered to the reality of day to day life for so many.
On the other hand, I think we are seriously deficient in some areas. Look at all that we have been blessed with and how God has provided for us as a nation and yet we turn our backs to Him. We are in love with the gifts and not the giver alot of times. And we are willing to be partakers in the good times, but we aren't willing to suffer... at all. We are a nation that wants what they want right when they want it. We aren't willing to work hard and perservere. We just do whatever gratifies us at the moment.
I think of all the generations in the past that have sacrificed so that we can have the freedom and the lives that we have and instead of appreciating and cherishing it we have destroyed it. But that's a rant for another day... heeheee.
I always find that my grattitude is greater around Thanksgiving. I try to sustain that attitude through out the rest of the year, but it wanes from time to time when.I get caught up in consumerism and myself. But each year I grow in the Lord and each year I know Him better and the more I know Him the more I am thankful for ALL that He has done.
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good and His love and mercy endures forever.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
