Monthly Archives: March 2014

A Word from Mary

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Hello everyone,

Trusting GodMargaret has graciously given me the opportunity to say a few words to you, and I am thrilled to do so.  I am overwhelmed and touched by the outpouring of love and support.  First, that Margaret would take the time and precious space in her blog to share my story and second, that so many of you would respond by praying for our family.  God is answering the prayers of His people and giving us peace and courage as we journey down this cancer road.  He has been faithful, and we have sensed His presence every step of the way.

Jesus in the ORAs I face the upcoming surgery on Monday, I know Jesus goes into the operating room with me, and that I am in His hands. Whatever the outcome, I am convinced it will be best for me, has the potential to bring about good things in others and most importantly can glorify God.  Joni Erickson Tada said, “Often God uses something bad to bring about something good.” Joni is a stunning picture of this.  Margaret just shared the story of Jim and Elizabeth Elliot a few nights ago, another wonderful example.  My prayer is that I would walk worthy…in Him and for Him.

A verse that has been a favorite of mine for many years is Psalm 61:2 where it says. “When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.” That Rock, Jesus, is our Anchor in this storm.  When the waters get rough and we begin to drift into worry and fear, He gently draws us back to the solid Rock, where we find strength for the moment, courage to face what’s ahead and that wonderful peace that passes all understanding.

So thank you for your prayers and many kindnesses.  We stand amazed, and we are grateful.  I know the Lord will bless you, as you are blessing us.

With much gratitude to God for you,

Love, Mary

My prayer requests:

  1. Praise for a good day and good visits from friends
  2. Praise for God’s Word that encourages and comforts
  3. An unspoken family request
  4. Prayer that the Word of Christ might “dwell in me richly” and that I might go directly there when fears sneak in

“The Lord is my strength and my shield. In Him my heart trusts, and I am helped.  My heart exalts, and with my song I give thanks to Him.” (Psalm 28:7)

Weapons of War

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60-something baseballMy sister Mary has led a healthy life. She’s made wise decisions along the way, not smoking, drinking, overeating, or under-exercising. She’s avoided aspirin, Tylenol, and antibiotics whenever possible. The combination of those choices along with good genes, has resulted in a healthy life. No hospital stays except for giving birth, and no surgeries. She didn’t even have a doctor of her own.

Till now.

Suddenly she’s got a whole team of doctors. Cancer slammed into her life a month ago, and at a bare minimum, she’s majorly disappointed. If she let herself go to the maximum (which she hasn’t), she’d be scared stiff.

Mary’s healthy body has begun behaving badly. She might say, “That’s ok. I’m due.”

But in the dark of night anyone who’s experiencing a fresh challenge as she is can be emotionally jet-propelled to the disturbing thought, “What’s going to happen?”

But God is always way ahead of us and is ready for that question. When we’re lying in bed wide-eyed with anxiety, God steps out of the darkness and whispers, “Listen carefully. I’m well prepared for this, and if you’ll let me, I’ll get you ready in time for every new experience. And I’ll do that all the way through. Yes, ‘through’. You and I together will get to the other side of this crisis.

“I realize I’ve programmed you to plan ahead and make lists, which makes it all the harder to hear that your plans and lists must come beneath mine now. But here’s a new way to look at it. The reason I’ve let this crisis come is so you’ll learn more about Me and want to intensify your personal relationship with Me. I want you to want that as dearly as I do.”

God says all that and then waits for our response.

When we get sick, particularly with something as forceful as cancer, God is trying to teach a hard lesson about independence and dependence. In a health failure, for example, he’s letting us know we can no longer depend on our bodies to be a source of well-being. He is the only One who can consistently and permanently provide that, without failure.

Horses and chariotIn ancient times when kings needed to make a show of power and superiority, they turned to the biggest, swiftest resources of strength known to them: horses and chariots. With enough of those, they could win any war. At least that’s what they thought.

We know from Scripture that God conquered those horses and chariots in all kinds of unexpected ways: with confusion, loud noises, water, darkness, fire, and much more. With him it’s never about human weapons or strength but always about himself.

So we can view a health crisis as an ideal chance to discount a worrisome lack of resources and use it to get to know The Resource to end all resources: God All-Mighty.

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense.” (Isa. 12:2)

Mary’s prayer requests:

  1. Praise for a loving, caring family, including those who have gone before
  2. Praise for long-standing prayer partners
  3. Pray for unwavering faith and trust in the Lord
  4. Pray for courage as surgery gets closer

When Unnatural Becomes Natural

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This week I’m writing from Florida, where I’m lending a hand to daughter Linnea and her family of six. Though I bought my plane ticket last October, I had decided to cancel my trip, wanting to stay close to my sister Mary as her cancer drama unfolded.

Autumn, Micah, Isaac, SkylarBut she and Bervin wouldn’t hear of it. “Don’t call off your plans to help Linnea,” they said, ever-conscious of the needs of others. “You should go.” So here I am, 1600 miles from Mary, getting reacquainted with Skylar (5), Micah (4), Autumn (2) and Isaac (8 weeks). Despite non-stop action, my mind hasn’t been more than inches from Mary.

The other day I mentioned that to her. But ever-positive she said, “Enjoy all that youth down there!”

Last week when I asked if she was worn out after many of her adult children had been over for dinner she said, “It’s encouraging to be around their youthful energy!”

I admire her for her upbeat comments during a very down time. She could just as easily have said, “I wish I was young again, too” or “What I wouldn’t I give to have that kind of energy,” or “If only I was as healthy as they are.” But her positive comments give a glimpse into her intentional bright-side thinking.

???????????????????????????????When you’re born a natural worrier as Mary was, landing on life-positives and plugging them into the words you speak is no small effort. But as Mary’s example demonstrates, the more we work at what doesn’t come naturally, the more we succeed.

God asks all of us to do difficult things now and then. For example, he wants us to ditch unhealthy habits and establish healthy ones. When neither of those appeal to our stubborn wills, we rebel and say, “I can’t do that, Lord, because…” and follow that with lots of reasons why not. God sees that as an unwillingness to obey.

I’ve witnessed it repeatedly here in Florida. Linnea will say to Micah, “Two more minutes on the trampoline, and then it’s time to come in.”

???????????????????????????????“But Mommy!” he’ll say. “I didn’t have enough jumping yet! Skylar was bothering me! It’s not fair! I can’t come in! I have to do more jumping!”

Micah’s response to Linnea is much like ours to God. The only difference is we hide ours behind labels like “an expression of my opinion” or “a defense of my legitimate feelings.” The results are the same: “I won’t do it your way.”

Which is why I admire Mary so much. Years ago she made up her mind to look on life’s brighter side, putting away complaining and substituting gratitude instead. It was something God wanted her to do. After she’d worked hard at it for years, what was once unnatural became natural. And now it’s who she is.

???????????????????????????????Maybe that’s because whenever we willingly follow God’s instructions, he blessed us richly for it.

“Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:3)

Mary’s prayer requests:

  1. Peace for her children and that they’d turn to God’s Word for strength and comfort
  2. Praise for the flood of support and encouragement received through prayer, gifts, cards, calls, emails, visits.
  3. Thanks for Bervin who is faithfully staying beside Mary through all of this. For peace and courage for him.