I heard good news from the MRI test today. It did not reveal any additional cancer than what has already been diagnosed from the biopsy. I meet with the surgeon on 12/24 to discuss surgery and next step options. Please continue to pray and thank you for doing so!!!!!!!
I get a devotional message delivered to my phone every day. Before I got the news this morning, I got the message and the content was about an angel of the Lord coming to Mary about news of her virgin birth of Savior Jesus. She was no doubt scared of what she may be facing, but she was trusting in the Lord. I had no doubt there was a message there for me. No matter what this day and the future would unfold, I was trusting the Lord. He is always with me through anything that I may face. Take heart, He is with YOU as well.
Yes, my soul magnifies the Lord, for He has done great things for me!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
God is God!
I wanted to keep family and friends updated on what's going on with me and our family, so I'll probably put postings on this blog periodically to give any new information for those of you that may want to be kept in the loop. So many have offered their prayers, love, support and more to me and Bill in the last few days and I am totally overwhelmed by your graciousness and kindness. Many do not know what's going on yet and some are lifting us up in prayer, whether I'm aware of it, or not. I feel it and I'm thankful.
I went in a couple of weeks ago for a routine mammogram and got called back for a second look because of some suspicious spots that looked like calcifications. I had a biopsy on the right breast this past Tuesday and was informed on Wednesday that it was cancer. I had an MRI Thursday night to pinpoint more specific details of just how large it is and if it is anywhere else on either side. I should hear more definitive information on Monday.
I am blessed to be in a community and church family that is spectacular and to have family and friends across the country that are lifting me up in prayer. I've had two of our elders pray for me already...one has been through this experience and is celebrating God's goodness in her life...the other is my oncologist and he is the absolute best anyone could ever ask for. God has me in the right place. The love and kindness that has been shown to me from people has blown me away. And I know that's only the tip of the iceberg. So many of you have been praying. I value your prayers so very much. Please continue to pray for God's healing powers. I'm praying that Monday's news will be the best possible news I could hear. I'm hopeful that God has outright healed me...YES, it's possible with God...or that whatever is there is revealed in totality and has been caught early and is small and easy to remove and treat. I am praying that it hasn't gotten into my blood stream or lympth nodes in order to spread to any other area in my body. I'm also praying that God will direct me in treatment options and decisions. If you could pray for me and Bill (and Kristen, my angel) we would be so grateful. Bill has been a rock and is my greatest support. Kristen is in KY and I just wish I could hug her. I just want God to protect her and give her strength. I'm counting on your prayers, along with ours, because I know God hears our prayers and He answers. I am trusting in Him.
About a month ago, Bill picked up Chris Tomlin's Christmas CD, "Glory in the Highest" for me. I fell in love with all the songs, but I was immediately drawn to a song referred to as Mary's song because the words relay the account in Luke that unfolds the birth of Jesus and Mary's heart. Mary, and the song, exclaims, "My soul magnifies the Lord, for He has done great things for me!" That song, those words, has become my theme. I will magnify and glorify Him because He is my hope.
How appropriate, at this wonderful time of year, for me to be reminded that a baby was born so that I may have life; not just any baby, but a Savior, Jesus Christ. What a gift God gave us all! My soul has to rejoice in that. My soul also rejoices in the love of God's people. I am humbled by prayers, and words, and deeds that have been showered upon me. Gifts of love. I am blessed.
I may have heard the "c" word, but I have to put it in perspective. I heard the little "c" word - cancer. It is what it is, but God is God! Because, a more important "C" word for me is CHRIST! So, big "C" trumps little "c" every time....God is God and He's the great physician!!!
Thank you for your love and prayers. I will try to keep you updated as often as I can. I thank you all for your grace and mercy. You are such a blessing to me and my family.
MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD, FOR HE HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR ME!
I went in a couple of weeks ago for a routine mammogram and got called back for a second look because of some suspicious spots that looked like calcifications. I had a biopsy on the right breast this past Tuesday and was informed on Wednesday that it was cancer. I had an MRI Thursday night to pinpoint more specific details of just how large it is and if it is anywhere else on either side. I should hear more definitive information on Monday.
I am blessed to be in a community and church family that is spectacular and to have family and friends across the country that are lifting me up in prayer. I've had two of our elders pray for me already...one has been through this experience and is celebrating God's goodness in her life...the other is my oncologist and he is the absolute best anyone could ever ask for. God has me in the right place. The love and kindness that has been shown to me from people has blown me away. And I know that's only the tip of the iceberg. So many of you have been praying. I value your prayers so very much. Please continue to pray for God's healing powers. I'm praying that Monday's news will be the best possible news I could hear. I'm hopeful that God has outright healed me...YES, it's possible with God...or that whatever is there is revealed in totality and has been caught early and is small and easy to remove and treat. I am praying that it hasn't gotten into my blood stream or lympth nodes in order to spread to any other area in my body. I'm also praying that God will direct me in treatment options and decisions. If you could pray for me and Bill (and Kristen, my angel) we would be so grateful. Bill has been a rock and is my greatest support. Kristen is in KY and I just wish I could hug her. I just want God to protect her and give her strength. I'm counting on your prayers, along with ours, because I know God hears our prayers and He answers. I am trusting in Him.
About a month ago, Bill picked up Chris Tomlin's Christmas CD, "Glory in the Highest" for me. I fell in love with all the songs, but I was immediately drawn to a song referred to as Mary's song because the words relay the account in Luke that unfolds the birth of Jesus and Mary's heart. Mary, and the song, exclaims, "My soul magnifies the Lord, for He has done great things for me!" That song, those words, has become my theme. I will magnify and glorify Him because He is my hope.
How appropriate, at this wonderful time of year, for me to be reminded that a baby was born so that I may have life; not just any baby, but a Savior, Jesus Christ. What a gift God gave us all! My soul has to rejoice in that. My soul also rejoices in the love of God's people. I am humbled by prayers, and words, and deeds that have been showered upon me. Gifts of love. I am blessed.
I may have heard the "c" word, but I have to put it in perspective. I heard the little "c" word - cancer. It is what it is, but God is God! Because, a more important "C" word for me is CHRIST! So, big "C" trumps little "c" every time....God is God and He's the great physician!!!
Thank you for your love and prayers. I will try to keep you updated as often as I can. I thank you all for your grace and mercy. You are such a blessing to me and my family.
MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD, FOR HE HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR ME!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
COME LET US ADORE HIM!
The Thanksgiving holiday has now passed and we are now in the throngs of the Christmas holiday season. Christmas brings overwhelming emotions for me, as I’m humbled by the manger child, the Savior of the World, who is God’s own son, who was sent to earth so that I may be in heaven one day – for eternity! That is a huge blessing to comprehend; one I don’t fully understand, but one which I am more than willing to accept as the greatest gift ever given.
I grasp that this is the season we celebrate Jesus’ birth, and I want to be an avid worshipper in that celebration. However, and more importantly, I think, I want to celebrate and worship Him every day of my life. The only gift I can offer to my Savior is my life, my gift of worship - not just at Christmas, but all throughout the year. As I thought about Christmas and Christ and how I can make this season a significant time of true offering from me to my Lord, I started researching the birth of the King Jesus. It led me to some interesting discoveries.
I discovered that, while December 25th may not be Jesus’ actual birthday, it is the day we, as believers in Christ have set aside to honor Him and His birth. We could never honor Him enough, so I’m all for there being a special time of year when we all celebrate His birth and all that it embodies in relation to the prophecies of the Old Testament. Isaiah 7:14 speaks of the imminent birth of the Savior:
"All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means 'God is with us')."
Wow! God with us – the word “gift” cannot do justice to that. It made me wonder how the gift giving tradition began at Christmas-time. And how it has gotten to the point it has gotten to in today’s culture.
The tradition of giving gifts in this season can be traced to the Magi (aka the Wise Men) who came from the east of Jerusalem to greet the Babe in the manger with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The gold offered to Christ was symbolic of what one did in ancient times to offer tribute at the reign of a new King. And frankincense, the aromatic incense used in sacred rituals, was offered to the Christ child according to tradition as a token of his being the Son of God. And finally the Magi's offering of myrrh, often used to prepare a body for burial, was a foretelling of the destiny of the Christ child as the suffering servant who would be crucified and die.
So how did we get from the original intent of honoring the Savior with our gifts to where our culture is today? I’m afraid, for many, the Christmas season has become one of commercialization and, often, greed. It’s possible that many of us have evolved into celebrating merely a season instead of its reason. We go into debt to buy gifts we can’t afford for children and people that don’t truly know how to appreciate or value them. It looks like we may have gotten things backwards. Not totally unusual for us humans, really. We tend to do that a lot.
So, am I the only one that would really like to make the main thing the main thing at Christmas time again? I don’t think so. I’m impressed that many of you would like a simple Christmas; a kinder, gentler Christmas where we focus on what God did for us through bringing us a baby in a manger to save the world. As we ponder the awesome scope of that, let us give the only gift that really matters. O COME LET US ADORE HIM!
I grasp that this is the season we celebrate Jesus’ birth, and I want to be an avid worshipper in that celebration. However, and more importantly, I think, I want to celebrate and worship Him every day of my life. The only gift I can offer to my Savior is my life, my gift of worship - not just at Christmas, but all throughout the year. As I thought about Christmas and Christ and how I can make this season a significant time of true offering from me to my Lord, I started researching the birth of the King Jesus. It led me to some interesting discoveries.
I discovered that, while December 25th may not be Jesus’ actual birthday, it is the day we, as believers in Christ have set aside to honor Him and His birth. We could never honor Him enough, so I’m all for there being a special time of year when we all celebrate His birth and all that it embodies in relation to the prophecies of the Old Testament. Isaiah 7:14 speaks of the imminent birth of the Savior:
"All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means 'God is with us')."
Wow! God with us – the word “gift” cannot do justice to that. It made me wonder how the gift giving tradition began at Christmas-time. And how it has gotten to the point it has gotten to in today’s culture.
The tradition of giving gifts in this season can be traced to the Magi (aka the Wise Men) who came from the east of Jerusalem to greet the Babe in the manger with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The gold offered to Christ was symbolic of what one did in ancient times to offer tribute at the reign of a new King. And frankincense, the aromatic incense used in sacred rituals, was offered to the Christ child according to tradition as a token of his being the Son of God. And finally the Magi's offering of myrrh, often used to prepare a body for burial, was a foretelling of the destiny of the Christ child as the suffering servant who would be crucified and die.
So how did we get from the original intent of honoring the Savior with our gifts to where our culture is today? I’m afraid, for many, the Christmas season has become one of commercialization and, often, greed. It’s possible that many of us have evolved into celebrating merely a season instead of its reason. We go into debt to buy gifts we can’t afford for children and people that don’t truly know how to appreciate or value them. It looks like we may have gotten things backwards. Not totally unusual for us humans, really. We tend to do that a lot.
So, am I the only one that would really like to make the main thing the main thing at Christmas time again? I don’t think so. I’m impressed that many of you would like a simple Christmas; a kinder, gentler Christmas where we focus on what God did for us through bringing us a baby in a manger to save the world. As we ponder the awesome scope of that, let us give the only gift that really matters. O COME LET US ADORE HIM!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
It's Harvest Time!
Bill and I enjoyed the beauty of Notre Dame's campus today. We're in South Bend, IN, to do a live tv show tomorrow morning on a Christian Network. We have never really had access to this network in towns we've lived in (or I wasn't aware of it at the time), so I wasn't very familiar with the programming when Bill was first presented with the opportunity to be a guest. I've learned more about the network now and I'm really excited at the far reach of God and His willingness to allow us to be a part of it. The show is called "The Harvest Show" via LeSEA (Lester Sumrall Evangelistic Association) Broadcasting. One of LeSEA's ministries is Feed The Hungry.
Bill and I are humbled that God would allow us to share our story of His love and faithfulness via this venue that reaches approximately 46 million North American homes via DirecTV ch. 367. There are also 12 stations, cable and syndication around the country that airs the broadcast. Their Middle East Television (METV) satellite reaches 73 million homes in Israel an 15 surrounding nations on channel 24 on cable to Israel. Their Far East Television (FETV) broadcasts to approximately 4.3 billion people in Asia, Australia, all of Europe and Africa. The European coverage is 78 million homes, and 8 million homes in Argentina. They also transmit 5 shortwave stations to 1 billion shortwave radios on the planet! I can't even get my head around these kinds of numbers, BUT, thankfully I don't have do. God knows the number of hairs on our heads. He's got the numbers all under control. He aims to reach the masses and I'm so amazed that He would even consider us worthy of being used to spread His good news to others. We are thankful and awestruck.
Who knows to whom this transmission will be communicated? I certainly don't know, but God has always known and He will reach those who have ears to hear and hearts to respond. We are praying that God prepares their hearts and minds to see only Him in us. His love, His grace, His mercy are irresistable! My prayer is, let them say "YES"!!! Somehow, I know God wants to honor that prayer. We can plant the seeds, but may God bring on the Harvest like only He can do:-)
Bill and I are humbled that God would allow us to share our story of His love and faithfulness via this venue that reaches approximately 46 million North American homes via DirecTV ch. 367. There are also 12 stations, cable and syndication around the country that airs the broadcast. Their Middle East Television (METV) satellite reaches 73 million homes in Israel an 15 surrounding nations on channel 24 on cable to Israel. Their Far East Television (FETV) broadcasts to approximately 4.3 billion people in Asia, Australia, all of Europe and Africa. The European coverage is 78 million homes, and 8 million homes in Argentina. They also transmit 5 shortwave stations to 1 billion shortwave radios on the planet! I can't even get my head around these kinds of numbers, BUT, thankfully I don't have do. God knows the number of hairs on our heads. He's got the numbers all under control. He aims to reach the masses and I'm so amazed that He would even consider us worthy of being used to spread His good news to others. We are thankful and awestruck.
Who knows to whom this transmission will be communicated? I certainly don't know, but God has always known and He will reach those who have ears to hear and hearts to respond. We are praying that God prepares their hearts and minds to see only Him in us. His love, His grace, His mercy are irresistable! My prayer is, let them say "YES"!!! Somehow, I know God wants to honor that prayer. We can plant the seeds, but may God bring on the Harvest like only He can do:-)
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