My beloved husband said it so perfectly, so I will simply copy the e-mail that he sent to our Sunday School class.
All,
Lisa and I wanted to pass on a praise to our amazing God, the Creator of
all things, and a thank you to everyone that prayed and has been praying
for us over the past couple weeks. Lisa had a biopsy done a week and a
half ago and there was a slight chance that it could be cancer. That
coupled with her family's history of cancer made her at a higher risk. It
was a time that we both went through something that we had never
experienced before and because of that our eyes are more open and our
hearts are more tender of what people go through that are "waiting." It
was a scary time, but we knew that God was working. Yesterday during her
follow-up visit the doctor read the pathology report to us and gave her a
clean bill of health.
How thankful we are to a merciful God that was gracious enough to allow us
to understand and have more compassion, while at the same time blessing us
with a cancer-free report. God you are so good. Friends you are truly
amazing and your prayers are so important to us. So from the bottom of
our hearts, thank you so much and we pray that God will bless you and your
family.
"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let
patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting
nothing." James 1:2-4
Bob and Lisa
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Case Closed....
Today our boys are "officially" back with their mommy.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant,
and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace,
and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
Ecclesiastes 3:1-6
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant,
and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace,
and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
Ecclesiastes 3:1-6
The "What-If's" of Life . . .
Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.
Jeremiah 14:22
Do you know for me some of the hardest situations to get through in my life have not been the trials themselves, but rather the unstoppable fear and doubt that creep into my mind and even my heart. One minute I am praising God for who He is and how much He has blessed me and then my mind wonders to all of the "what if's" of life and fear begins to take over. Just today I was thanking Him for the unmeasurable grace that He continues to show me and then I began to fear the "what if's" of life.
These past few weeks I have been thinking a lot of a young mother/wife from our church who lost her battle to cancer a little while back. I truly can say that I never gave it much thought because I was so distant from it, other than politely asking how she was and sitting and talking with her when time allowed. However, now that I have become a little more personal to the word "cancer", I have been thinking a lot about her and what her life was like those last few months.
As we await the biopsy results, I wonder what it must have been like for her and her husband to sit across from the doctor time and time again with yet another suggested treatment or test result. As a wife I would think one of the hardest things to do would be to look at my husband and know that I would not share another day with him . . . I would not hear of his day, or get to enjoy the way he holds my hand, or to lie next to him and have our quite talks in bed. I watch my children and think, what if I don't get to see them grow up and have families of their own . . . what if I'm not here when my daughter "needs" her mommy? How is my son going to know what kind of woman he should marry?
She must have thought about all those things . . . and yet she still remained faithful to God. It's not that I fear the results of the test...it's more that I fear the results of what could happen from the test. I want to see my husband grow old and hold hands with him when we are 90, I want to see my son grow up to be the strong godly leader I know he will be, I want to help my daughter pick out her wedding dress and watch as she brings her first child into this world. I want all of that and more and yet I know that I have no more control over all of that than I do the results of the test.
That is when God brings me unmeasurable grace. In those moments when life gets burdensome and I want all MY wants . . . He gently reminds me that even if my wants are not His wants - He still will remain faithful and I can forever lean on His strength. . . . that is unmeasurable grace!
Jeremiah 14:22
Do you know for me some of the hardest situations to get through in my life have not been the trials themselves, but rather the unstoppable fear and doubt that creep into my mind and even my heart. One minute I am praising God for who He is and how much He has blessed me and then my mind wonders to all of the "what if's" of life and fear begins to take over. Just today I was thanking Him for the unmeasurable grace that He continues to show me and then I began to fear the "what if's" of life.
These past few weeks I have been thinking a lot of a young mother/wife from our church who lost her battle to cancer a little while back. I truly can say that I never gave it much thought because I was so distant from it, other than politely asking how she was and sitting and talking with her when time allowed. However, now that I have become a little more personal to the word "cancer", I have been thinking a lot about her and what her life was like those last few months.
As we await the biopsy results, I wonder what it must have been like for her and her husband to sit across from the doctor time and time again with yet another suggested treatment or test result. As a wife I would think one of the hardest things to do would be to look at my husband and know that I would not share another day with him . . . I would not hear of his day, or get to enjoy the way he holds my hand, or to lie next to him and have our quite talks in bed. I watch my children and think, what if I don't get to see them grow up and have families of their own . . . what if I'm not here when my daughter "needs" her mommy? How is my son going to know what kind of woman he should marry?
She must have thought about all those things . . . and yet she still remained faithful to God. It's not that I fear the results of the test...it's more that I fear the results of what could happen from the test. I want to see my husband grow old and hold hands with him when we are 90, I want to see my son grow up to be the strong godly leader I know he will be, I want to help my daughter pick out her wedding dress and watch as she brings her first child into this world. I want all of that and more and yet I know that I have no more control over all of that than I do the results of the test.
That is when God brings me unmeasurable grace. In those moments when life gets burdensome and I want all MY wants . . . He gently reminds me that even if my wants are not His wants - He still will remain faithful and I can forever lean on His strength. . . . that is unmeasurable grace!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Life Changes Once Again . . .
This past year has been a great journey for our family and to me personally. God has shown me areas in my personal and spiritual life that I was holding onto and would not release to Him. Areas of anger, disappointment, fear, selfishness . . . areas that I alone wanted to be in control of, but quickly realized the more I tried to control the more out of control I felt.
Today marks yet another season in our lives. Today we officially closed our fostering license. We have been praying about where God would lead us next for several months - wondering if He would open the doors for more children - if we were to just look at adoption - if we were to be involved in other areas within this ministry? The questions seemed to continue to pile up and I was once again trying to rely on my own judgement and reasoning for the answers. Then over the past couple weeks God has brought different situations in our lives to reassure us that for this time in our life, we need to focus on serving Him through the families of our church and through our own children. By allowing Him to direct us in this decision . . . I have complete peace. I know that no matter what happens in this life, I can always turn to God for direction and strength.
We are so blessed to be able to still be a part of our little guys' lives and the life of their mother. It truly is an amazing thing to look back and see God's hand at work in our lives and in theirs.
So with all of this comes yet another path to walk with God and for me to trust completely in His plan for my life and the lives of my family. I cannot say that it was an easy decision to make, but I am thankful beyond words that He has allowed it to be a peaceful decision.
In His Service,
Lisa
Today marks yet another season in our lives. Today we officially closed our fostering license. We have been praying about where God would lead us next for several months - wondering if He would open the doors for more children - if we were to just look at adoption - if we were to be involved in other areas within this ministry? The questions seemed to continue to pile up and I was once again trying to rely on my own judgement and reasoning for the answers. Then over the past couple weeks God has brought different situations in our lives to reassure us that for this time in our life, we need to focus on serving Him through the families of our church and through our own children. By allowing Him to direct us in this decision . . . I have complete peace. I know that no matter what happens in this life, I can always turn to God for direction and strength.
We are so blessed to be able to still be a part of our little guys' lives and the life of their mother. It truly is an amazing thing to look back and see God's hand at work in our lives and in theirs.
So with all of this comes yet another path to walk with God and for me to trust completely in His plan for my life and the lives of my family. I cannot say that it was an easy decision to make, but I am thankful beyond words that He has allowed it to be a peaceful decision.
In His Service,
Lisa
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
