My Friend Update

This is an update on my friend June....



L to R:  Me, June (back), Amanda (front), Tammy

She has, as of today, Lord willing, finished with her chemo treatments.  There are several tests she needs to take to make sure all the cancer is gone.  Please continue to pray for her.  She needs strength and grace in every way possible.  She is going through this trial, and also raising her 4 grandchildren. Thank you!!

Original Post

My Precious Friend

 

This is a dear friend of mine, June (the one in the middle).  She was the only one that befriended me after I got saved.  She took me up under her wing and helped me to grow.  She is the one who noticed the talent God give me to sing, and encouraged me to use this talent for the Lord.  We've had a lot of up's and down's, but I will always see her as one of the most precious people I know.  She has been through so much in her life, but there are not many times that you did't see her with a smile on her face, and praising God for His goodness.  Her faith has given me strength.

 

We recently found out she has Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a type of cancer.  My heart hurts for her, and I wish I could be there with her, but I know God knows why He is allowing this in her life.  I told her it remind me of Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego in the book of Daniel.  They had to go in the fire so that other's could see Jesus!!  I know God can trust her with this trial. 

 

I am asking you to pray for her.  She will be starting chemo tomorrow and needs your prayers!!! Thanks every so much!!!

What a mighty God we serve!

The last couple of weeks have been filled with ups and downs like you wouldn't believe.  Other than stressing about packing and shipping our stuff and what's going on in Ukraine, I recently found out that I would have to have a hysterectomy.  Big news, especially since we are leaving so soon, and you need at least 6 weeks to completely heal (according to the doctor).  But PTL, let me tell you what happened!!!

Several weeks ago while at one of my doctor appointments, my doctor suggested that I have a biopsy on my uterus.  So I did (an it did not feel good :( ).  Several days later, my doctor called me with the results.  She said that they found that I have hypoplasia and they found A typical cells also.  She told me that I would need a hysterectomy and possibly a full hysterectomy (ovaries and uterus).  But we scheduled a time for the next week to review and talk about what we need to do. So at this point I was really stressing.  Brian and I trying to figure out when we could possibly do this so I wouldn't miss any meetings and still have enough time to heal before we fly out.  But here comes the amazing part....drum roll please.... after my phone call with the doctor, I called some people to ask them to pray.  At the doctors appointment on Monday, my doctor told me, the previous week after we had talked, she run into a doctor friend of hers who was a gynecological cancer specialist.  She told him about me and he suggested doing a D&C first.  This way all the trouble I was having and verifying whether there is cancer could be done at the same time.  And if there is no cancer found from this procedure, I would not have to worry about having a hysterectomy at all.  PTL, right?!  On top of that, she will be able to place in my uterus a device that will slowly give me the hormones I need to regulate me and to thin my uterine wall (take care of the hypoplasia).  God so intervened and answered our prayers, not in the way we thought, but just much better.  He took several difficulties and took care of all of them at the same time!!  What a mighty God we serve!!!!!

Crossroads

 

I do not even know how to start.  My heart is so overwhelmed, every time I think about our current situation, I break out in tears.  Sometimes I wonder, why is everything so hard for us.  It seems like our deputation was harder for us than for others.  Situations always seem more dramatic and harder than it is for others.  I know the Lord has a plan, but it seems like he is taking us the long way around to get to our destination.  There are so many things we need to pray for.  The most important is direction from the Lord, so we know which way to go.  Right now, we are at a crossroad, and have no idea which road to take.  So many things have changed over the last couple of weeks, and I personally do not know how to react to it all.  All I know to do is to walk by faith!  Wait on the Lord. Psalm 37:7a Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him:

♪♫ Stand still and let God move,

Standing still is hard to do

When you f eel you have reached the end,

He'll make a way for you

Stand still and let God move ♪♫

So Close...Yet so Far Away

In the beginning of 2013, it was a struggle.  I struggled with whether God's was really calling us to Ukraine, struggling with the seemingly empty deputation schedule, struggling with the fact that no one seemed to care, so I started not to.  The support was not coming in and we didn't have as many meetings as I thought we ought to. But you know, the Lord has helped me grow through all that.  Strengthen my faith through those struggles.  Building my "faith" muscles!  I have heard over and over that your time on deputation helps you with the situations you will face on the mission field.  And I do believe that now.  I am defiantly more dependent on God now than I was 2 1/2 years ago!  I started to pray more, and trust God to work.  Yes, my husband stands before and church and shares our burden, but that is just information.  Behind the scenes, we prayed and put the raising of our support in the hands of the one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The one who can turn the heart of man like water.

The last part of 2013 was the opposite of the beginning. We have seen the Lord work and move in the hearts of Pastors and people in support, prayer, and giving.  I think the Lord has rewarded our complete trust in Him as Provider!  And now, we are only 12% away from stepping foot on Ukrainian soil, to begin our training... I am so humbled by my Lords kindness to me and my family!  I am no stranger to GRACE... and never get tired of experiencing kindness that we do not deserve!

 

Just Thinking

As I sit here, thinking of how to put my heart into words, I remind myself that I am a preacher's wife.  Believe it or not, I always forget, even as I sit, watching my husband behind the pulpit, preaching the Word of God.... I still don't think about it.  It's usually only by this blog, or by someone mentioning it that I think on it.  For lately, my heart has been sad.  I don't know why really.  I laugh, but still in my heart, I am down.  Just as in Proverbs 14:13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.  It seems for a long while now, it has been like this.  I smile, but behind the smile is a heaviness that can not be explained.  I know this is not good.  What do I have to be sad about?  Jesus loves me.  My name is written in heaven.  Our pastor just preached a message about that very thought.  Jesus said....but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. (Luke 10:20) Maybe it's the very heaviness of life itself? The world and it's inducements.  The very wickedness that surrounds us everyday that we live and breath here on this sin cursed earth. hhhmmmmm....

I have been reading the life story of John Bunyan, the man who wrote the Pilgrims Progress.  He had so many trails and temptations in his life, but they are trails and temptations that the devil uses on us today, the same ones.  I guess that's why Paul said that we are not ignorant of his devises, because he uses the same old tactics as he did 400 years ago.  Some of the things I have been though, thinking how wicked I was to think such things, but I read how John Bunyan went though the same exact thing.  It's a blessing to read that book, if you have not yet read it, I would suggest you get a copy of it.  It's called "Grace abounding to the chief of sinners".  It will truly be a help and a blessing.

Faith....

I am extremely frustrated at myself this morning. Why? We'll.....I have been prepping for a yard sale for a couple of week now. Today was going to be the day we had the yard sale. We had a prime location! For the elementary school down the road from the home where we were going to have it at, was having a huge indoor yard sale in there gym. So I wanted to take advantage of the MAJOR advertising they were doing! For the local "yard salers" would be driving right by this location to get to the school. Last night, my husband and I took some tables to this location, and stayed a bit, and played some cards (nerts and golf). Our friends that lived in this home told us that there was going to be a 90% chance of rain, and it looked as if we would be rained out. I told them that I had been praying, and had the kids praying too that it would not rain so we could have the yard sale. I had faith the Lord would come through in this minor matter for me. But as we chatted and played cards, the subject would keep coming up about the rain not stopping, and how we would get rained out...but I just kept believing God was going to answer my simple request. It was late when we left their home.....and it was still pouring down the rain. We got home and when to bed, expecting to get up in a couple of hours so we could load everything in the Montero and in the truck and head over to the ys location. But my husband woke me up at 4:15 and said, it's still raining and went back to sleep. I felt defeated, had the Lord not answered my pray, and before I knew it, I had fell back asleep.....now it was 8:00 and it has cleared up and it is not raining. I just knew the Lord would come through for me, but now it is to late to go, by the time I got the kids up ready, and everything packed, etc... we would be there very long. Was God testing my faith this morning? And there was another test I failed. The greatest sin in the bible is unbelief. For the sinner, unbelief will send them to hell, for the saint, it will stunt there spiritual growth. Why is it so hard sometimes to just believe the Lord loves us and wants our best? In the book of Hebrews it says....Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. God calls unbelief EVIL. The children of Israel had to wander in the desert for 40 years all because of unbelief. They didn't believe what God promised He would do, even with all the obstacles before them. For salvation, Jesus said to "REPENT and believe" Repentance coming first and belief coming after. After I turned (repented unto) to God on May 4, 2003, God gave me the faith to believe. I turned to God after having turned away from everything else in my life. And simple child like trust in my Saviour, to save me from a miserable existence. But now, my husband and I are still kicking ourselves for letting others effect our faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen Hebrews 11:1. My faith was wavered by another, but that is no excuse for me. But my Lord was so gracious as to show me that He does love me and did answer my prayer. He shows me so much kindness each and everyday that I live. I am so unworthy of His grace and mercy, that He would love an old sinner like me. A sinner saved by His marvelous grace!!! God is so GOOD!!!!