Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. Jer 17:5-8
Yesterday my Mom had surgery to remove the ovarian cancer. It was such an amazing blessing to be there. Mom just wants to bring glory to God through all of this and she did that. As people from her church showed up and her family sat together and prayed and visited – we took over the waiting room. Before her surgery she had three rounds of prayer with the various groups in the surgery prep area (since the space was limited). We had hundreds of people all over the country praying for her – and we all felt it. The Lord’s presence there was very real and it was so comforting to all of us. The surgery went well – but the Lord was there too, in the surgeon’s hands – we had prayed for that very thing and told him so! So it was as Mom had hoped, the sense of peace and assurance that permeated the people there definitely did bring glory to God. Please continue to pray for her recovery and that she will have no complications following this procedure.
I loved Lorraine Hill’s lesson today – it is so powerful to read about how much our joy and peace depend on trusting God completely. We read about George Muller, who she mentioned today, in our homeschool curriculum last year – the story is so amazing, I hope you get a chance to read it yourself someday. Today’s lesson shared some great scriptures and wisdom. You know these things in your head, but reading it in His Word is all the better. I hope you are enjoying Reclaiming Your Joy too. Tuesday is the day I have set aside to share with you from the other book, Heart Strings. Well, as I packed hastily to travel for my mom’s surgery, I forgot to bring it along with me. Much to my husband’s chagrin, I pretty much always pack hastily (he prefers leisurely packing over the course of several days – too messy for me) but I was particularly pressed for time, having tried to squeeze too many things into the day. I will be back home for a day before returning to stay with my mom – I will post later this week about Heart Strings.
So instead, I will share briefly about a neat experience I had with my Sweet Boy that led us all away from worry. We had waited to talk to him about Mom’s cancer. It is a hard thing to tell. My Sweet Girl is older and the typical firstborn, wise beyond her years. She had “figured it out”. I sat with them at the breakfast table and just felt God leading me to share with him. Those kids are praying kids. And when I shared the news, I told them both about how they were very important in this process because we needed their prayers too. Then we opened the Bible for our scheduled daily reading and turned to the story from Luke 5:17-26. This story is about how the paralytic man was brought to Jesus by his friends, and the crowd around Jesus was so great, that they had to lower him down through the roof of the house. They were so sure that Jesus could help him, and they loved him so much, that nothing could stop them from bringing their friend to Jesus for healing. I was so amazed – I had not previewed the bible lesson. Wasn’t the Lord kind to us to encourage us with such an appropriate story? The kids and I marveled about that for a few minutes…then we reread the story and inserted my mom’s name throughout the story. It was a powerful moment. We brought her to Jesus. And we felt comforted that He would heal her too, just like the man in the story, so that in the end, it can be said about all of us that amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.” (Luke 5:26).
Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you” ( Jeremiah 32:17).
JustaGirl…just like you!
So here it finally is!
http://gratefulforgrace.com/2010/12/not-a-creature-was-stirring/
Let us all pray for your moms recovery and cemo. I love the idea of inserting her name in the story.
Isn’t amazing how we get opportunities to practice what we are learning. I am being given the opportunity to practice not letting my anxieties take away my joy through a little mouse (maybe mice). I have an irrational fear of mice! We just moved to the “country” and we had a two big snow storms which apparently is a given to drive the mice in. He made himself known when he ran over my toes(at least I had shoes on)two nights ago. I will not lie, he immediatly stole my joy. I did not sleep all night thinking about where he was and what he might be doing and WHAT IF HE CAME INTO A BED ROOM! UGH! My son has been following me through the house with a nerf semi automatic protecting me. I am back on the horse today (mostly because my husband trapped one last night and I am ignoring the saying about if you see one there are at least fifteen more)and so thankful that God lets us retry everyday to abide in his joy. I am telling myself thank you God that you can make a room for me in heaven that will not have pests (mice).
Psalm 91:3-6
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday
I am placing myself right under God’s protective wings in this passage so that I can sleep through the night.
Is anyone else feeling stretched with what they are trying to learn and actually implement here?
Paula
I loved your story about the mouse! It is sometimes the small things that sneak up on us (spiritually and literally!). We seem to hunker down for the big things but the we need to let the Lord “Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.” Song of Solomon 2:15 – the little things that sneak up on us and ruin our fellowship with Him. Here is a great story from another blog I follow that I KNOW you will appreciate! It is from GratefulforGrace a dear College Friend on mine. Hope this works! I am attaching it to this comment and still learning!