Sunday

As this weekend is coming to a close I find myself wondering what this next week will look like in terms of findings and conclusions from doctors in St. Louis at Barnes for Don. The truth is, it is scary for us. Especially with the kinds of specialist they want to bring in.

Joshua does not want to go to St. Louis and he loves it up there. He too does not want to see his daddy back in the hospital. Don has been in the hospital once a month since this new year began. It is hard to imagine that Don has been in the hospital off and on right at 110 days since September including this next week.

I don’t know what this week will bring. I know this, my hope has to be in what I can not see. Trusting and just resting is much easier said than done given our circumstances. This journey has been long and hard. And at the same time I have seen God’s hand at every turn. When we thought we were going to lose Don and the doctors only gave us that day….Don is still with us. When doctors at Mayo said they could not promise us what the outcome would be with Don responding….and he is still with us. When I did not think I could make one more day, I did. When I continued to make mistakes and stumble and sometimes just fall to pieces God was there, saying I love you.

I have seen God’s grace and mercy in a powerful way. Not because of my goodness, not because I have said and done all the right things. This is only been because of His Grace. Every time, I thought I was not going to be able to pay another bill, God has provided for us. I continue to be humbled and reminded that God has not left us. Just when I think….how on earth are we going to do this. God shows me how much he loves me.

So as this week unfolds, I don’t know what is going to happen. But I do know that God promises He will never leave us. I know that our Hope is in Him. I know that I can find Rest and Believe in Him, even when it feels so bad and the days seem long. And it feel like hope has taken flight.

WE have so very much to give praise and thanks for. Life and that is first life in Christ. And God’s great mercy and grace upon us.

And then you our family and friends who continue to walk with us, continue to lift us up before our Father. You who continue to come along side us and sacrifice your time and gifts and support to us in an amazing way. We are most grateful to God for you. I now see what it really means to be the church, to minister to those hurting deeply. You all have continued to bless us beyond what we could ever imagine. You have to know that God has used you to encourage us right when we thought we were losing hope and very discouraged.

Bless you our family and friends for your love that can only come from our Heavenly Father. How amazing and wonderful that we have been on the receiving end of your precious kindness toward us.

Please continue to pray for answers and healing. And pray for our little one, Joshua. He too is learning about God’s love toward him.

Bless you.

Diane

Touch

A MAN VISITED Tiffany’s jewelry store in New York City…

He was shown a magnificent diamond with its gleaming yellow light and many other splendid stones. But he observed one stone that was perfectly lusterless and said, “That has no beauty about it at all.”
The friend who was with him put the stone in the hollow of his hand and held it there for a few minutes. When he opened it, the man said, “What a surprise! There is not a place on it the size of a pinhead that does not gleam with the splendor of the rainbow. What did you do with it?”

His friend answered, “This is an opal. It is what we call the sympathetic jewel. It only needs contact with the human hand to bring out its wonderful beauty.”

How many lives there are that need only the warm touch of human sympathy to make them gleam with opalescent splendor.

Aquilla and Priscilla ran into Apollos, who needed to know the way of the Lord more perfectly. With love and kindness they touched him with the truth, and Apollos became a brilliant apologist for Christianity.

Saul of Tarsus was a much-feared persecutor of the church, but a friend named Barnabas (son of encouragement), stood at his side and defended him to the other Christians. As you know, Saul the persecutor became the apostle Paul, touched by a messenger Ananias and an encourager Barnabas.

A confused Eunuch rode along, not understanding what he was reading. What a blessing that the Spirit urged Philip to join the Eunuch’s chariot and to preach the gospel of Jesus to him. The confused man found answers and went on his way rejoicing.

The hopeless jailer, fearing the worst from the earthquake, thought to take his own life. But two beaten and imprisoned men, who knew the grace of God, cried out, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!” They kept him from taking his life by giving him the Lord Jesus Christ. That very hour, the man who had no hope, found great joy in Jesus.

Do you know a downcast and discolored soul you may touch? The warmth of your love coupled with the truth of the gospel can turn a dull soul into one of the lights of the world, like a city set on a hill. (Phil Sanders at http://www.forthright.net/from_friend_to_friend/the_sympathetic_jewel.html)

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14

KneEmail; Posted by Mike Benson

Have a wonderful Lord’s Day!

Anna Lee