It All Began...

Yesterday I was reading in Luke 1, and I was struck by the statement, "It all began with Zechariah, an old man." I thought how God waits to do His thing until everything is in place. In the Old Testament he had said he would send a prophet to announce Jesus' soon coming; that would be John the Baptist. Before John could come, the father (Zechariah) and mother (Elizabeth) had to be ready. And the miracle of John's birth so late in their lives got the whole hill country buzzing. Even that, I suppose, helped some to believe in Jesus the Christ when he made his appearances--as a baby in the temple, as a 12-year-old in the temple, and then as Teacher/Healer/Savior beginnng at the age of 30. It's fascinating to speculate about ordinary God-seekers who saw or heard about these things and put them together with prophetic expectations to say, "Look! There he is! The Messiah!" And "it all began" with an old man. What do you know? (Some of us "old people" need to know that we have a role in God's good plans too, as long as we're available.)

Times were tough for the Jews in those days. Zechariah's inability to speak for many months was a bummer. It couldn't have been easy for Elizabeth to carry and deliver a baby as an old woman. And up in Nazareth, a few months later, Mary and Joseph were putting up with scorn and gossip. Still, the tone of the story in Luke is not grim but joyful. Isn't that itself a miracle from God?

Yesterday afternoon I copied a photo and a couple of Jeremy's latest postings here on my blog. His recent experiences have seriously challenged his joy. Read on down if you're interested.

My cancer buddy and his wife are studying the papers about the proposed clinical trials and are feeling confused and discouraged. Please help us pray that God will clearly guide them.

Yesterday I worked until 5 without excess fatigue. That side of things seems to be improving for me. I still have several rashes, beginning mouth sores, and that pesky esophagus. Nothing is bad enough to interfere with life or joy, but of course we're praying for relief anyway. (Also, I guess, if the kemo effects worsen over the next 2 1/2 weeks, maybe the doctor won't want to administer another Doxil. Every day with cancer brings new adventures, doesn't it?)

Tonight is our Sunday School class Christmas party. Imagine the fun of an evening with those wonderful people!

I'm sorry I obeyed blogger and switched to the beta version. I notice that in the past couple of postings my paragraph spacings didn't work (I tried many times to fix them). I also understand that even if you used to be able to leave comments as a blogger member you can't now. I think if you call yourself "Anonymous" it will accept your comments, and of course you can sign your name anyway if you want to. I hope the little techie bug catchers are hard at work, day and night, to fix the problems.

Love,
Carol