HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!We have so much to be thankful for. Mostly for your faithful prayers. We see God work in our lives everyday. I am almost back to myself. My energy has returned and the brain fog has kind of lifted so I am back to running everyone’s lives again. This is not really appreciated as it involves clean rooms, homework, and instrument practicing. But I remind myself that a prophet is withou
t honor in his home town so I continue to bark out the orders.
Here is some insight into a cancer patient’s life. Wigs are itchy. And sometimes I feel as if it is going to pop off, especially in church when I have sat in a pew for a couple of hours. So I might casually reach up and do the scratch-thing, which is actually the pull-it-down-thing, hoping no one will notice. I don’t have the “does this dress make me look fat” problem. I have the “Chris, is my wig all right?” problem. Sometimes, dear soul that he is, he will say “no” but I can’t do anything to fix it. Why do I even ask? Because of vanity. I am working on it. J
We have so much to be thankful for, even if I wasn’t feeling well. I still tire easily but have learned how to pace myself and do the jobs that need doing. Becca and Dan come home tomorrow from Houghton. My parents wonderfully offered to pick them up and for that we are grateful. Daniel is employed at Staples for the holiday season and that is a real answer to prayer. And Carly got a Pico ‘good student’ pass so she is looking forward to learning how to snowboard.
I like this devotion, which is from Streams in the Desert, by L.B. Cowman. It is from October 24:
Around the turn of the twentieth century, a bar of steel was worth about $5. Yet when forged into horseshoes, it was worth $10; when made into needles, its value was $350; when used to make small pocketknife blades, its worth was $32,000; when made into springs for watches, its value increased to $250,000. What a pounding the steel bar had to endure to be worth this much! But the more it was shaped, hammered, put through fire, beaten, pounded, and polished, the greater its value.
May we use this analogy as a reminder to be still, silent, and long-suffering. It is through pain that God gets the most out of us, for his glory and for the blessing of others. Our life is very mysterious. In fact, it would be totally unexplainable unless we believed that God was preparing us for events and ministries that lie unseen beyond the veil of the eternal world—where spirits like tempered steel will be required for special service.
I don’t think I know any family that doesn’t have something to be anxious about. I may have cancer but that doesn’t make me special. Phil Keaggy, a Christian singer/songwriter from the ‘70s sings a song called “Disappoinment”. "Disappointment – His appointment, change one letter then I see…" Perhaps a little cheesy but I like it. It reminds me I have a choice. To trust God even when I can’t see or understand His plan or to take charge myself, which is hysterical to me, because there is no “taking charge” in our situation!
I have rambled for quite some time so if you are still with me, a gold star for you! I cannot express in words how much we love our praying friends - the strength and encouragement your prayers infuse into our lives everyday. Have a joyous Thanksgiving and count your blessing, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done! Love, Janie
Disappointment - His appointment,
Change one letter, then I see
That the thwarting of my purpose
Is God's better choice for me.
His appointment must be blessing
Though it may come in disguise
For the end from the beginning,
Open to His wisdom lies.
Disappointment - His appointment
Whose? The Lord's who loves best.
Understands and knows me fully,
Who my faith and love would test.
For like loving, earthy parent
He rejoices when He knows
That His child accepts unquestioned
All that from His wisdom flows.
Disappointment - His appointment
No good thing will he withhold
From denials oft we gather
Treasures from His love untold.
Well, He knows each broken purpose
Leads to fuller deeper trust
And the end of all His dealings
Proves our God is wise and just.
Disappointment - His appointment
Lord I take it then as such,
Like the clay in hands of potter
Yielding wholly to Thy touch
All my life's plan is Thy molding
Not one single choice be mine
Let me answer unrepining,
Father not my will but Thine.
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