Difficulties or Opportunities?

Carol’s flight yesterday to join our daughters in DC was through Atlanta. The Atlanta weather delayed her departure from here, which in turn caused her to miss the continuing flight to DC. Her relatively short trip turned out to be nearly twelve hours, but she arrived safely along with her baggage and is enjoying a wonderful time with the girls. Not knowing what kind of internet connection she will find there, I will be the blogger early this morning to be certain that you faithful readers hear from us.

Frequently people ask me about Carol’s fight with cancer, and then ask…”and how are YOU doing?” Depending on the day, that can be a difficult one to answer. I would like to say that every day is filled with joy, hope and anticipation, but that is not always the case. I find that it is far too easy to start feeling anxious or have fears creep into my thinking…especially during the night. That is when I struggle to redirect my thoughts to verses like Philippians 4:6 and I Peter 5:7, but it is a continuous battle to redirect those thoughts and focus on God, letting him deal with those matters, while at the same time looking to Him for direction, guidance and peace.

While I may feel like I am going through difficult times, I am reminded of Paul and all the trials and hardships that we read about him facing. I am challenged by his words in 2 Corinthians as The Message records him saying “Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times.” (4:1) And later on he says “So we are not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.” (4:16-18)

I find it amazing how quickly words of wisdom from the Scriptures can come to mind during the day time, but in the middle of the night my recall is much slower. Could there be a relationship there somewhere between the light and darkness? That is something to ponder…but during the daytime, please.

Thanks for that reminder Paul. Okay…I will put those mountains back into perspective…they are only small potatoes compared to what is ahead for each of your people! As God continues to provide the health and strength, we too will not give up. Daily, we are richly blessed by God and by each of you. It is our prayer that we will allow those blessings to flow through us to others.

Enjoy this last weekend of 2007.

Love to you all,

Chuck…and Carol too