Checking Back In

Life has been full of health changes. I will be writing again, on a regular bases. Sorry for my silence.

Eternal

Eternity is the focus

Our eternal God is with us every moment. At each new step or understanding or awareness, God is with us:  In front, behind, above, below, and on each side. Let Him hold you - me - us in His hand.  

Am I Living Like That?

What do people see when they are with me? Do my words and actions point to Him? I love The Lord more than anything, more than I can explain using words. He is with me every second of every day. I owe Him everything.

The Sidewalk Prophets have such powerful songs. The one that I have referred to in the past is Live Like That. It is a very beautiful, challenging song. It always brings me back to realizing that my words and actions are to reflect Him. 

"What will people say of me, when I am only just a memory. When I'm home where my soul belongs..."  I have been blessed with knowing that my life is fragile, temporary, limited. It is true about all of us but my blessing is knowing that I am still on earth because of medications. So, I have spent a lot of time making sure that people know how important they have been to me, and, that God is with me thru this time. 

Daily reflection makes me evaluate what people saw during the day and did it point to Him. The exciting part is watching who The Lord brings into my day. Sometimes we can be aware of a person needing encouragement but other times we might not know who we have touched. Which then brings me back to what do people see...?

HIS Glory

Have you ever been judged when something negative happens in your life? In John 9:3, Jesus was asked about the cause of a man's blindness. Who's sin: his or his parents? Jesus answered that no one sinned. There was another purpose: to glorify God.

Have you ever thought of your difficulties as bringing glory to God? Can you find places in your past where negative events have shown God's compassion, justice, love, and power? 

When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer and kidney cancer, two people told me to repent. One person left a long message on my phone about my sin being the cause of the cancer, which included quotes from Scripture. Another person wrote to me about the connections between sin and sickness along with sending me a Bible. Thankfully, my relationship with the Lord was strong so I knew these people were incorrect. Many blessings were visible to those around me - the beginning of God receiving the glory.

"... this happened so the works of God might be displayed in him... " 

My situation is no different from what you are experiencing. God is right there using your life to glorify Him. All of our temporary situations can be used by our loving Lord. Remember His character when facing something new and you will be strengthened - and it will give Him glory.

Grace is Necessary

Our only way to God is by His grace. Remember the "woman caught in adultery"? She was brought to Jesus and He showed her grace. "Then neither do I condemn you...Go and leave your life of sin."  (John 8:1 - 11)

Throughout life, we all sin...daily. I don't know why but I was always seen as a "goody, goody". I sinned too but apparently others didn't see my sins. So, when my marriage ended, I had a new label that was very visible. It was embarrassing and sad to see the reactions of those around me. How could God ever use me now? 

Grace. He loves me. He accepts me. And then, He gave me a new ministry:  single moms. Wow, His grace even cleansed me so that my visible label drew others to Him! Because of His grace, my shame disappeared. 

When Jesus sent the woman caught in adultery away, He knew His grace had changed her. She was told to leave her life of sin. We don't see her again in the Gospel of John so I don't have proof that she followed His directive. What I do know is how I responded to His overwhelming grace: it drew me closer to Him and made me want to please Him even more. Grace, His grace, leads to a change in us and leads us to action. 

Where has His grace taken you?

MY Grace IS Sufficient...

After having two of the three iron infusions, I am wiped out. After the first one it took two days to feel a little more energetic. This time I am just wiped out. Tomorrow will be the test as it will be day two. Yesterday and today I have slept, eaten, slept, and listened to the news. When I am like this, there is no energy to work on the computer or with my camera.

Still the blessings keep coming: *Kevin's previous sermon wasn't online as they held their service in the park - while searching for a reputable pastor on TV, Dr. Charles Stanley was ending his sermon from II Corinthians 12. He was discussing Paul's "thorn in the flesh" and how Paul learning that in his weakness, God is strong. Wow, just what I needed right then.  *Kev and Lu had a very busy Sunday and were going from one event to another. They stopped home to change clothes and Kev came in, patted me on the legs, kissed the top of my head, and asked how I was doing. His gentle touch said, "I love you, Kathy."  *One constant blessing is Maggie, the dog. I often thank God for pets. She makes me laugh as she tries to get into rooms that are off limits to her. Then her look says, "How did I get here?"  

Hopefully tomorrow I will post more about HIS grace from the Gospel of John. For now, remember HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT for every situation.  I'll end with a quote from my great-great nephew: while celebrating his first day of preschool, he went to McDonald's. As he walked in he said, "I like this place. It's beautiful!" Words of wisdom: check your perspective. 

Jeremiah

The Old Testament is full of wisdom and encouragement for each of us. As I study John, I take a detour to Jeremiah, Isaiah, I and II Samuel, and other OT books. This week I spent some time in Jeremiah 31. Back in 2008, our single moms' class spent weeks looking at this promised-filled chapter. 

Do you know that God promises blessings even in a barren land? Our relationship to and blessings from our Lord are not - cannot - be tied to circumstances. He is an ever-present, ever-loving, pure God. He is available to us every second of every day. 

This week, I have been in the barren land because I chose to walk that direction. The Lord kept blessing me anyway:  *My debit card had been missing and so I retraced my steps and decided that the only place we hadn't looked was behind the driver's seat in the car. (Long story so I'll skip details.) Kevin found it, but later that night someone broke into the car looking for cash, etc. but,  my debit card was safely in my bedroom!  *Two days later, my CT Scan came back with no changes since March. What a blessing! Then, *one day later, an offer was made on my town house in Kent, WA. Wow! The Lord was working and blessing me even tho' there was no growth around me. 

Why? Because HE is God, faithful, loving, active, alive. 

Not based on my goodness or deeds 

but on His Holiness. 

Praise God!

Whining

Today, is a whining day for me. Sorry, but I am tired of feeling weak, fatigued, unable to do easy, normal actions. Yesterday, I slept through my nephew knocking on the door and then slept through him calling me on my cell phone. I wasn't even strong enough to sit outside for dinner with their two darling children. 

Wa-wa-wa! What do I know? I know that the Lord loves me more than I can understand. I know that He has plans for my life. I know that many other people have it way worse than me. I know that He is my Comforter. I know that I have many blessings in my life because of cancer. I know...

...Fix your thoughts on what is true,

And honorable,

And right,

And pure,

And lovely,

And admirable.

Think about things that are excellent

And worthy of praise.

Keep putting into practice all you

Learned and received from me...

Philippians 4:8 - 9.  NLT

Ok, so if I didn't have cancer with the fatigue, I wouldn't be in San Jose to see my nephew and his family, even for a short time. If I wasn't so fatigued, I wouldn't have slowed down enough to write, or to photograph God's creation. I wouldn't be able to spend this quality time with Kevin, Lu, and Ashley. I would not have seen how the Lord designed marriage to be. So, I'll try to change wa- wa-wa to WOW!