May 7, 2007

Isaiah 55:8-13 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,"declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills will burst into song before you, and the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of a thornbush will grow a pine tree, and instead of the briers the myrtle will grow. This will be the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed."

I feel that in my entries, I have always expressed that I fully know that God is God and I am not. I do not claim to understand all of His ways or why He lets things happen as they do. However, this passage from Isaiah 55 reminds me that although I don't understand or comprehend, it's okay because He does and always has. God has never been surprised by anything, nothing has ever blind sided him. My family has weathered a series of terrifying storms. What I am realizing day to day is that without the rain, many things on earth here would suffer as a result. I saw a line on a commercial today that said " Today is the day to come full circle." He allows the rain sometimes because, as much as we don't like the rain all of the time, it serves a purpose. It causes the earth to create new life and flourish, and to feed those who hungry. God does not speak to us for no reason. There is a purpose in every word He has, and we have to be willing to let it be used to nourish us and help us flourish. If we allow it to, we can experience true joy and peace. This land will be influenced by us, replacing the bad with the good. What have I done today to come full circle? How am I using the words God has spoken to me?

This is an excerpt taken straight from Jeff's August 28, 2004 entry: "The treatment sessions are relatively quick. I’m usually lying on the table for only about 15 minutes. They formed a plastic mesh mask to cover my head. They clamp the mask over my head to another piece behind my head to keep me in place. They also have my chest marked with permanent marker and even some small tattoo markings. This enables them to be precise with the spine treatments. When I first found out that I had a brain tumor, my prayer was that God would remove the tumor but leave at least one of my minor symptoms as a reminder of my encounter with him through this situation (much like when Jacob wrestled with God and came away with a limp because God wrenched his hip). Now that I have a couple little tattoos, I can pray that God takes all the symptoms away; I have another permanent reminder instead!"

I also have three tiny marker tattoos on me as a result of radiation. Because my cancer was in my left side, I have about a two inch scar from where I had surgery. I am thankful that is the only physical reminder I have of what I went through. I heard it said in a song that scars are a sign of the healing that has taken place. As soon as I heard that, it really made an impact on me. The scar I have on the left side of my body is almost directly over my heart. For me, that scar will remind me of the healing I had from cancer, but also the healing of my heart and my relationship with my Savior and of my encounter with Him through this situation.

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