New Blog

Please join me on the new blog I've started to chronicle God's faithfulness since Steve was diagnosed with cancer. Here is the address:

ASurehope.blogspot.com.

Our Journey

It's been a long hiatus; however, the time has come for me to start writing again. I pray that those who read this will be encouraged by God's grace and love and know that the promises in His Word are true. Life as we know it can change in an instant. My husband Steve and I celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary on January 12, 2013. A week later our world turned upside down. James 4:14 says, "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." That reality can smack you in the face when you least expect it. January 19, 2013 will be forever burned into my memory. As I sat enthralled by the stories from the missionaries at our missions conference at Denton Bible Church, I felt a touch on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Steve beckoning me to join him in the foyer. After we sat down, he said, "The doctor just called me with the test results. The CT scan showed the lymph nodes are enlarged, and the chest X-ray showed that my lungs have shrunk. She thinks I have lymphoma. She's sending me to a surgeon for a biopsy." Stunned and shocked, I looked up and saw Mike Spencer, one of our pastors and our ABF teacher. We walked over and told him what we had just found out. He prayed with us and comforted us. We know without a doubt that God had Mike in the foyer just for us. Our heavenly Father started us on this journey with love and grace, and He continues to shower us with blessings too numerous to tell. So our journey began. Walk along with me as I recount God's faithfulness and the peace and joy He's given us these past months. Till next time...

Hiatus

Last Saturday I had a much needed mini-retreat with the Lord. As a result, I'm making some changes in my life.

Before I talk about that, let me update you on Comfort & Compassion. You may or may not know that God is taking Carrie and me in different directions. About a month ago we came to the decision that it was best for us to pursue ministry separately. Carrie is continuing on with Comfort & Compassion. You can keep up with her through the website: comfortandcompassion.com.

During the mini-retreat, I worshiped, prayed, searched the Word, cried, rejoiced, and reflected deeply. I felt an incredible sense of peace and awareness of God's love when it was over. I realized more than anything, I want to live out what Paul wrote in Philippians 3:7-10 which says,

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Sometimes God allows dreams to die so that we can know Him better and to refine us in order to make us more useful in His kingdom. During the mini-retreat, I believe God gave me a glimpse of where He's taking me. However, it's too soon to share; I hope to do so at a later date.

For now, I'll be teaching a HopeKeepers Bible study (for women in chronic pain) this summer at our church. I believe God wants me to pursue writing, so I'll be doing that also. . .just not blogging. As I've gotten older, it's become harder for me to multi-task, especially with my foggy brain sometimes intruding. :)

Thanks for reading my blogs. I pray that your walk with Christ dominates your thoughts, your motives, your life. Blessings to all!

God Uses our Weaknesses

Who would imagine that Rick Warren of Purpose Driven Life fame lives with a rare brain disorder that causes him to experience clouded vision, headaches, and in some situations, loss of consciousness.

Jeffrey Sheler writes in his biography of Warren, Prophet of Purpose, "The Mayo doctors . . . told Warren that he suffered from a rare brain disorder that prevented his nervous system from properly processing adrenaline, a hormone that is released by the adrenal glands in moments of sudden stress or fear."

What's more stressful than speaking to thousands on a weekly basis? Sheler quotes Warren on adrenaline and stress.

Adrenaline is a public speaker's best friend. . .If you don't have adrenaline you're boring. Adrenaline gives you passion. But adrenaline also makes it painful for me. The very thing that I need in order to do what I need to do becomes a source of pain.

How does Warren respond to living with a brain disorder that causes pain when he obeys God's will for his life? Listen to this.

People ask me, "Rick, do you ever get proud talking to all thise people?" I say, "You have no idea. I'm saying, 'God get me through this.' It creates a sense of dependency, a sense of humility - what Paul would call a thorn in the flesh. It's been a governor on my life that keeps me focused on God rather than focusing on the crowds.'

Wow! What an attitude. Like the apostle Paul, Warren recognizes that in his weakness he is strong in Christ. Warren lives out 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 which says:

But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Friends, do we boast about our weaknesses in order to experience Christ's power? Do we delight in our weaknesses and find our strength in Christ? Or do we try to appear strong in order to fit in? Do we depend on our own strength and try to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps? That's the American way.

Living with fibromyalgia for over 25 years has caused me to depend on God for strength. I know whatever gets accomplished in my life it's because of Christ's power, not mine.

Sometimes I fall back into the trap of wanting to appear strong and having it all together. I want people to think well of me. But I will never have it all together until I'm out of this body and at home with the Lord.

I pray for me and for all of us that our desire would always be to please God and not look to man for approval. I pray that, like Paul, we would delight in our weaknesses, giving Christ the opportunity to show His strength to a doubting world.

Website for Chronic Illness

Restministries.org provides great support for those with chronic illness. You'll find chat rooms, books, advice on managing your household and much, much more. Here's a blurb from the website about how Rest Ministries got started.

Rest Ministries, Inc. began in 1996 and became a 501(c)[3] in ‘97. It was founded by Lisa Copen.

Lisa was diagnosed a few years earlier with rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 24 and life had changed dramatically. She searched for some time, but was unable to locate the kind of Christian support that she desired to help her along this unexpected detour of chronic illness.

Surely she couldn’t be the only one who lived with daily chronic pain, and believed in the Lord–and still wasn’t healed, right?

Right! Since 1996 Rest Ministries has reached hundreds of thousands of people–over 80,000 to the web site alone each month. And it continues to grow through the help of our volunteers who keep it going every day. And we are honored to be an affiliate ministry with Joni and Friends International Disability Ministry, the ministry of Joni Eareckson Tada.

Lisa has since been diagnosed with fibromyalgia in addition to rheumatoid arthritis. She recently underwent extensive surgery on her hand because of the crippling effects of RA.

Lisa established Bible study groups called HopeKeepers for those with chronic illness. I'll be teaching a six-weeks HopeKeepers Bible study for women this summer at Denton Bible Church. If you're in the Denton area, I would love to have you join me for hope and encouragement in living with a chronic illness. I've lived with fibromyalgia for over 25 years, and I understand how difficult life can be with the limitations of a chronic illness. But I've also learned how faithful God is and the joy that comes from totally depending on Him for strength.

Please email me if you would like to be notified when the date and time is set for HopeKeepers, or if you have questions. I hope to see you there!

Detour

In the last post we talked about the Apollo 13 near tragedy and how the astronauts' courage and confidence brought them safely home. In today's post I was going to apply lessons from the astronauts to our Christian walk. However, that will have to wait for another time.

The prelude to our church service this morning was Amazing Grace. On the screen was Psalm 40:1-2.

I waited patiently for the Lord;
He turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

Gratitude and love for the Lord washed over me as I listened to the music and thought about those words. Psalm 40:1-3 happens to be one of the passages God gave me after saving me from a life of sin, despair, and desperation. Therefore, I'm compelled to take this detour today and write about God's amazing mercy, love, and grace.

Let's go on a journey. Imagine yourself hiking in the country. It started out as a sunny day full of promise. But suddenly the sky darkened, thunder roared, and rain pelted you as you ran for cover. In your haste to make it to a grove of trees, you fell into a deep hole. The water is gushing down, making the sides of the hole slippery. You dig your fingers into the wet mud, but there is nothing to grab onto, so you slip and slide as you cry out in fear. The water continues to rise as you flail about, looking for any kind of handhold to pull yourself up.

Suddenly, a strong-looking man appears. He gets on his knees, reaches down and pulls you up. He sets you on solid ground, and you are safe. Would you be grateful? You better believe it!

How much more Jesus has done for us! Through His death, burial, and resurrection, He has rescued us from the pit of hell. As scary as it is to think about falling into a literal pit, it's even more frightening to think about dying without Jesus.

I was there - apart from Jesus. That's why Psalm 40 means so much to me. I lived in a pit, crying out for relief from despair and unending emotional pain. I felt hopeless. I tried grabbing onto anything the world had to offer for relief, only to find myself sinking deeper into the pit.

Then one day, God reached down, lifted me out of the pit, and set my feet on solid ground. Jesus Christ is my Savior, and I am eternally safe. Friends, if you have trusted Jesus as your Savior, you have the following promise:

It is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us,and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22

No matter what storms hit our lives, no matter how bleak the economy looks, no matter how our bodies break down, we have the assurance that our strong God will bring us safely to heaven.

Let's focus on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith and not on our earthly circumstances. Our confidence is in Him. He is our life, He is our all in all, He is the One whom we owe everything.

Let's bow down and worship Him for who He is - our great Redeemer!

Courage & Confidence

Today is the 40th anniversary of the explosion on board the Apollo 13 spacecraft which cut short the mission to the moon. An Associated Press article states that "Lovell's calm if unsettling words to Mission Control following the explosion that, 'Houston, we've had a problem' — now widely recited as, 'Houston, we have a problem' — belied his quick internal calculation that their chances of survival were slim."

All oxygen stores were lost within about 3 hours, along with loss of water, electrical power, and use of the propulsion system. The spaceship was three-fourths of the way to the moon. The astronauts were forced to move from the service module to a freezing, cramped lunar module designed for use on the moon. Their mission changed from reaching the moon to a life-and-death struggle to get back to earth.

On Dateline Matt Lauer interviewed Commander Jim Lovell and Fred Haise, two of the astronauts who survived the mission. Jack Swigert, the third crew member, died of cancer in 1982.

Several times Lauer tried to get Lovell to admit to fear, panic, and thoughts of never seeing his family again. Lovell's response? They concentrated on what they had to do to get home rather than all the things that could go wrong.

Lovell, Haise, and Swigert's courage and confidence on their four day return to earth defies understanding. In spite of low oxygen levels, freezing temperatures, and little to eat and drink, they rose above their circumstances and worked through crisis after crisis to make it safely back to earth.

Where did their courage and confidence come from?

1. They were experienced test pilots. They had trained for emergency situations and were prepared to deal with disaster.

2. They shut out negative thoughts and concentrated on overcoming the problem at hand. They did not deal in "what if" thinking.

3. They trusted the solutions that Mission Control came up with and followed directions.

4. They worked as a team. Each one did his part to reach the goal of getting home.

So what can we, as Christians, learn from the story of Apollo 13? In the next post, we'll explore that question.