"The promise comes by faith so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all...Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations... Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead... Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised."
Romans 4:16-21
Do yourselves a favor... read it fully in Romans 4. Context is key. And this passage is a great one to write on the tablet of your heart. As it says in Habakkuk 2...
"Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay"
I write those passages more for me than for you as I struggle to comprehend the circumstances encompassing me right now. From my Dr.s appt where Dr. J explained how the medical community has linked a strain of lyme disease to ALS (terrible way to start the month) to the hot hot weather (which only serves to greatly aggrivate all lyme symptoms), to sadly, my 9 year old niece walking into the hospital 2 weeks ago only to be diagnosed with Adult Myelogenous Leukemia and Chronic Degenerative Heart Disease. She is now currently in a medical coma, on a paralyzation drug, feeding tube, ventilator, IV's, antibiotics, insullin, and a host of other medications trying to rid her body of leukemia and infections. As of yesterday she had finished her first round of chemo but the blood tests revealed she had not acheived remission (despite the fact that 90% of children with this cancer do) and that she had spiked a 104.5 degree fever from the infection her body is unable to fight due to the lack of healthy white blood cells... all killed off by the chemo.
Now, I have to admit to you in all honesty... my prayer closet tends to be real LOUD in these times as I hash things out with God... or when things get really bad in my perspective, my prayer closet will be extremely QUIET as I feel like God's not doing anything about it anyway why should I tell him? I believe fully and whole heartedly in God, his power, his will and his mercy... it just seems in the midst of all that is going on in my family (both immediate and extended) that I could use a reminder... a tangible, evident, obvious reminder of His love for us. The more I write the more I realize I am not a good example of faith in these times. What does it say in Hebrews 11? "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things UNSEEN??" I find myself wondering if God has just washed his hands of everyone at this point and is just letting things happen as they may. I wonder if he is just there saying, "Well, the world has made a mess of itself once again. Instead of intervening I shall let things happen as they may and prepare my return... with everything as bad as it seems(and only to get worse) the hearts of man will be no more prepared to receive me than now." PLEASE realize this is not a theological statement or meant to be taken as scriptural interpretation gained from Revelation etc... it is merely a broken heart trying to reason WHY things of this nature are allowed to occur and why I can't see the hand of God in the middle of ANY of the many circumstances currently surrounding me. I guess it's the flesh that needs to understand God and His will.
Wow- I didn't mean this post to be a downer... really. Here's some good news. 1. WELCOME TO MYSPACE SHEL-SHEL. You are officially "in". And you're welcome as I know you are now as fully addicted to Myspace as the rest of us. :) And... a HAPPY albeit LATE BIRTHDAY TO YOU! 2. My niece Kayla,14 years old, is staying with us here in Pittsburgh until school starts. She has enjoyed being with the kids and spending her days with us at Sandcastle. 3. My SIL Lisa is pregnant... AGAIN. This will be her second baby and she is delighted. Sidenote... any of you who know Lisa should make it a point to be near her throughout her pregnancy. She is a FUNNY pregnant person. Hilarious even. We had the priviledge of joining her in the DC metro area for dinner last week. Her daughter Caroline and our Kylee are the best of friends and bring joy to us as they play together and hug constantly.
Well, that brings me to the end of this post. It is August already and Brenden's curriculum will arrive next week for 1st grade. FIRST GRADE. Wow.
Thanks again to all of you for not only reading... but for caring what these posts say month after month. How fortunate I am to have each of you. I look forward to announcing GOOD NEWS in my August review. (Let me be clear and state that the "good news" would be updates on my niece, my health, etc... NOT PREGNANCY!!! :)
Until next time...
-Chelle'
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