Yet I Will Rejoice

About nine years ago we learned that fig trees will grow in Charlotte, so we planted a couple of them. It was tough going at first, and they'd freeze down to the ground every winter. But now they've toughened and grown tall, and we're picking a few pounds of them every day. How delicious! We eat them and share them, and we're experimenting with freezing them. They also have spiritual value as they remind us of our hearts' true home described by the prophet Habakkuk in chapter 3, verses 17-19:

"Even though the fig trees do not bud, and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren, even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He will make me as surefooted as a deer and bring me safely over the mountains."

Our generation in the West has never known literally that kind of devastation, but some of our brothers and sisters around the world experience hungry times almost every year. Those who come to know Jesus learn first hand what it means to rejoice in the Lord even when all else fails. That's the first reason why we do mission. Being there, the compassion of Christ also stirs our friends to help the local people develop sustainable means of survival. (Some of those stories are in the magazine I'm wrapping up just now.) Above all, we pray. These days we're praying that since the rains came late to Niger, God will make them continue through October in order that the people will get a grain harvest. It's only millet (bird food to us), but it's their "daily bread."

Although here we are so blessed with figs and other material provisions, stuff happens (like cancer). I want to be learning in the good times that the Lord is my strength even in the "bad" times.

A few people are asking for CA 125 scores. My next blood test for that will be August 25. We're eager too. I'll give the report here as soon as I hear the result. I'm feeling well. Did I tell you that the new kemo drug is allowing my hair to begin to grow again? (It'll be a long time before you see it!) This kemo seems kinder in that way, but still it manages to weary me worse than the first drug did.

Blessings,
Carol