"No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house. " - Matthew 5:15
It is essential that we share the blessings we have been given. It is in sharing that we receive far more than we give. In this dark and difficult world, it is far too easy to see only the disappointments and frustrations around us. But that only makes our vision darker and of course, that's exactly what the enemy wants us to focus on. When we allow the light that does pierce the darkness to shine from us and through us, we change not only our own outlook, but also begin to influence the understandings of those around us. There are untold blessings in our midst. Take a few minutes today to write down your blessings. There is always something we can be thankful for. Remember the things that the Lord has done in the past for you. Remember His faithfulness. We can illuminate them and allow them to illuminate us to see the greater hope that God provides.
Lord, you put a light within me which warms and helps me every day. Even when I travel through this valley of illness, I realize I can help to shine that light all around me. As you bless me, help me to be a blessing to others in return. Amen.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
While waiting, sometimes I get impatient. How about you?
"It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." - Isaiah 25:9
Most of us are not good at waiting. In fact, we probably all struggle with being impatient. I know that just when I think I've conquered impatience, it will rear it's ugly head again. We set our own timetables and are disappointed when things don’t go just as we’d like. Often, many of us blame God when life doesn’t unfold as we want. But in doing so, we forget something so utterly important …our timetables are not God’s. Our life and times are in His hands. We forget it is God who knows best, who offers what we need when we need it and whose timetable is the perfect one for us. Even when we don’t always understand God’s mysterious ways, we can be reassured that they are the ways to seek and to find.
My impatience gets in the way of my best interests too many times, Lord. I know I need to actively wait on you, and when I do, my needs will be wonderfully met. Amen.
Blessings,
Molly
Most of us are not good at waiting. In fact, we probably all struggle with being impatient. I know that just when I think I've conquered impatience, it will rear it's ugly head again. We set our own timetables and are disappointed when things don’t go just as we’d like. Often, many of us blame God when life doesn’t unfold as we want. But in doing so, we forget something so utterly important …our timetables are not God’s. Our life and times are in His hands. We forget it is God who knows best, who offers what we need when we need it and whose timetable is the perfect one for us. Even when we don’t always understand God’s mysterious ways, we can be reassured that they are the ways to seek and to find.
My impatience gets in the way of my best interests too many times, Lord. I know I need to actively wait on you, and when I do, my needs will be wonderfully met. Amen.
Blessings,
Molly
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
A site recommendation for those dealing with cancer
Early on when I was first diagnosed with cancer, a cancer survivor gave a friend of mine a book for me to read. It is written by Greg Anderson. It has truly been a blessing. It's called "Cancer: 50 Essential Things to Do". This man has been a 20+ years lung cancer survivor! He has an amazing testimony! Greg and his wife have created a website to offer encouragement to cancer patients. It's http://www.cancerrecovery.org/ . Please take a minute to peruse through this site, glean what you can from it, and be sure to get a copy of the book. It's well worth the money and time to read it. He really helps you gain perspective in dealing with cancer.
Blessings,
Molly
Blessings,
Molly
Thursday, October 1, 2009
An update and praise
From my heart -
God has been so amazingly good to us through this trial. I can't tell you how much we have all grown in our walk with him. Our faith is strengthened and we are so glad He held us up through all of this. I cannot recall anything in my life that has ever brought me to the bottom where I truly had to give up total control. THIS experience has been it for me. I'm hoping that through these updates you are encouraged to seek Him more. Don't wait until you have to have a "big one" happen before you give up and let Him be all He wants to be for all of us. A friend once said to me "I'd rather be prayed up and full of the Word before the storm, then to have the storm hit and be empty." This is so true!
The chest xray shows that everything is stable and this is what my doctor wants to see. He is so pleased with this news and how I am doing. He said I'm doing great and our prayers are being answered. I have to admit that when the report read "stable", I was a tad bit disappointed, just briefly though. It was because I was looking for some great adjectives like I got last time. I mean the words "significant improvement" like I read last time are pretty hard to beat. LOL! So, stable it is and what a wonderful, encouraging word that is. Praise be to God!!
I have to share with you what happened with my veins this afternoon. Nurses have trouble finding a good vein when they do my blood work, so I'm always asking for prayer whenever I have to have that done. My nurse, Judy, knows I have lots of folks praying when I come in for my calcium iv. She's a believer in prayer. Anyhow, I sat in the sun for about 10 minutes to soak in some vitamin d before I went inside the office. I went and sat down in my usual chair. She got her "stuff" together for my iv. I was talking to a friend I've made there so I'd get my mind off of what Judy was doing. Usually it takes her a few minutes, the vein might blow or she'll have to dig, but this time when I turned to look, THE NEEDLE WAS IN and I DID NOT FEEL it at all! It was a good vein, in fact today, she she said I had FOUR good veins she could've used in my hand. Folks, that just doesn't happen with me. So, the power of prayer and the warm sunshine is what she contributes to her easy job today. She said to thank you all for praying for my veins and for her too. :-)
I am thankful for each of you and for the prayers you pray for our family. God is answering them! I'm going to be okay and I am a survivor! God is good all the time!!
Living with hope,
Molly
God has been so amazingly good to us through this trial. I can't tell you how much we have all grown in our walk with him. Our faith is strengthened and we are so glad He held us up through all of this. I cannot recall anything in my life that has ever brought me to the bottom where I truly had to give up total control. THIS experience has been it for me. I'm hoping that through these updates you are encouraged to seek Him more. Don't wait until you have to have a "big one" happen before you give up and let Him be all He wants to be for all of us. A friend once said to me "I'd rather be prayed up and full of the Word before the storm, then to have the storm hit and be empty." This is so true!
The chest xray shows that everything is stable and this is what my doctor wants to see. He is so pleased with this news and how I am doing. He said I'm doing great and our prayers are being answered. I have to admit that when the report read "stable", I was a tad bit disappointed, just briefly though. It was because I was looking for some great adjectives like I got last time. I mean the words "significant improvement" like I read last time are pretty hard to beat. LOL! So, stable it is and what a wonderful, encouraging word that is. Praise be to God!!
I have to share with you what happened with my veins this afternoon. Nurses have trouble finding a good vein when they do my blood work, so I'm always asking for prayer whenever I have to have that done. My nurse, Judy, knows I have lots of folks praying when I come in for my calcium iv. She's a believer in prayer. Anyhow, I sat in the sun for about 10 minutes to soak in some vitamin d before I went inside the office. I went and sat down in my usual chair. She got her "stuff" together for my iv. I was talking to a friend I've made there so I'd get my mind off of what Judy was doing. Usually it takes her a few minutes, the vein might blow or she'll have to dig, but this time when I turned to look, THE NEEDLE WAS IN and I DID NOT FEEL it at all! It was a good vein, in fact today, she she said I had FOUR good veins she could've used in my hand. Folks, that just doesn't happen with me. So, the power of prayer and the warm sunshine is what she contributes to her easy job today. She said to thank you all for praying for my veins and for her too. :-)
I am thankful for each of you and for the prayers you pray for our family. God is answering them! I'm going to be okay and I am a survivor! God is good all the time!!
Living with hope,
Molly
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
"He made my feet like the feet of deer, and set me secure on the heights." - II Samuel 22:34
It is our faith that enables us to be lifted up to heights we never imagined we could reach. Our faith enables us to find strength we never knew we could have, answers we never thought we could find and joy we never could have expected to experience. Our faith in a good, loving, compassionate and eternal God, equips us to know eternal wonder and infinite peace. This faith is our bedrock and our hope. We must never give up on its power to transform us so that we may triumph over the disease in our midst.
My mind can scarcely comprehend, dear God, what you do for me to deliver me from the ravages of cancer and its effects. But I know you are working without fail to give me much more than I could ever do for myself alone. Amen.
It is our faith that enables us to be lifted up to heights we never imagined we could reach. Our faith enables us to find strength we never knew we could have, answers we never thought we could find and joy we never could have expected to experience. Our faith in a good, loving, compassionate and eternal God, equips us to know eternal wonder and infinite peace. This faith is our bedrock and our hope. We must never give up on its power to transform us so that we may triumph over the disease in our midst.
My mind can scarcely comprehend, dear God, what you do for me to deliver me from the ravages of cancer and its effects. But I know you are working without fail to give me much more than I could ever do for myself alone. Amen.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
An update and prayer requests
I just wanted to post an update on me. I know it's been a while since I have posted one so I apologize for this being so long. I continue to feel good, am able to do everything I was doing before all this happened, my energy level is certainly back to normal. I am so very thankful to feel this good. I feel like my normal self again! The Lord has truly been good to me/us during all of this. He has truly carried me/us through this trial.
There have been times in the past few weeks that I've struggled with a boat load of emotions, thoughts, depression, but I know that was the work of the enemy. I've been reading a book written by someone who has been healed of cancer and the scriptures she put in the book. That has given me great comfort during this time. This has been a tough battle, but the Lord has been faithful. He has given me the grace and strength to walk through this. I'm so thankful for the scriptures that have lifted my heart and are helping me fight the battle of the mind. I've never had to fight a battle of the mind as hard as this one. Whew! But I KNOW that the Lord wants us to be happy and healthy and by His stripes we are healed.
Now, for the prayer requests:
I go back this coming Wednesday, September 30 for another calcium iv. Please pray that the nurse will find a good vein for the iv. I'm also thinking that I will be having another chest xray done before I see the doctor on Wednesday. I would truly appreciate your prayers in the upcoming week as I take another step of faith and get the chest xray done. Remember back in June, the chest xray said "significant improvement"? We were on a "high" around here after hearing those words. I think I floated on those words until sometime in July, then the battle of the mind crept in. Well, now I find myself getting ready to walk through the doors to get the next chest xray done. Pray against anxiety and that we would have increased faith for the journey. Pray that the results on the chest xray are even better than last time.
I'll update after next week's appointment.
I'll close with these words someone sent me this summer. I get goose bumps when I read this. Read it slowly and really take it in.
Andrew Seu challenges me when she writes, "When I pray, am I open to the possibility that God will not answer "yes" or "no", but this instead, 'You have no idea what's going on behind the curtain of your sensate reality, so you best had make up your mind once and for all--I do love you. Will you trust Me?' "
"Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever...the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all Thy works." ~Psalm 73:25-26, 28
Living with hope,
Molly
There have been times in the past few weeks that I've struggled with a boat load of emotions, thoughts, depression, but I know that was the work of the enemy. I've been reading a book written by someone who has been healed of cancer and the scriptures she put in the book. That has given me great comfort during this time. This has been a tough battle, but the Lord has been faithful. He has given me the grace and strength to walk through this. I'm so thankful for the scriptures that have lifted my heart and are helping me fight the battle of the mind. I've never had to fight a battle of the mind as hard as this one. Whew! But I KNOW that the Lord wants us to be happy and healthy and by His stripes we are healed.
Now, for the prayer requests:
I go back this coming Wednesday, September 30 for another calcium iv. Please pray that the nurse will find a good vein for the iv. I'm also thinking that I will be having another chest xray done before I see the doctor on Wednesday. I would truly appreciate your prayers in the upcoming week as I take another step of faith and get the chest xray done. Remember back in June, the chest xray said "significant improvement"? We were on a "high" around here after hearing those words. I think I floated on those words until sometime in July, then the battle of the mind crept in. Well, now I find myself getting ready to walk through the doors to get the next chest xray done. Pray against anxiety and that we would have increased faith for the journey. Pray that the results on the chest xray are even better than last time.
I'll update after next week's appointment.
I'll close with these words someone sent me this summer. I get goose bumps when I read this. Read it slowly and really take it in.
Andrew Seu challenges me when she writes, "When I pray, am I open to the possibility that God will not answer "yes" or "no", but this instead, 'You have no idea what's going on behind the curtain of your sensate reality, so you best had make up your mind once and for all--I do love you. Will you trust Me?' "
"Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever...the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all Thy works." ~Psalm 73:25-26, 28
Living with hope,
Molly
Thursday, September 24, 2009
A devotion I received.....
"And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one." - Matthew 6:13
God does not give us this disease called cancer. God does not strike us with hardship or harm us through retribution. God seeks only to save us from destruction and deliver us from all that keeps us from living fully the life we were created to live. God simply wants us to know and experience the peace, hope, joy and love that God knows. When we place our trust in God and look to God in everything we do, we can begin to experience God’s ultimate will for us every day. In that we will be saved from evil and delivered from debilitating distress.
When I am in anguish and pain, I know I need to remember that you can deliver me from falling into despair. I know, too, that you can save me from my own destructive fears. O God, I need you today and I thank you for never leaving my side. Amen.
God does not give us this disease called cancer. God does not strike us with hardship or harm us through retribution. God seeks only to save us from destruction and deliver us from all that keeps us from living fully the life we were created to live. God simply wants us to know and experience the peace, hope, joy and love that God knows. When we place our trust in God and look to God in everything we do, we can begin to experience God’s ultimate will for us every day. In that we will be saved from evil and delivered from debilitating distress.
When I am in anguish and pain, I know I need to remember that you can deliver me from falling into despair. I know, too, that you can save me from my own destructive fears. O God, I need you today and I thank you for never leaving my side. Amen.
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