Amazing Week

Yes, this has been an amazing week! Filled with challenges but also blessings.

I awoke early this morning and decided to get up and do some reading rather than try to get back to sleep. My mind was still too filled with thoughts of the week to get it quieted so I could get back to sleep. We are thrilled that Carol seems to have turned the corner with the violent reaction to the Cisplatin and is now able to take food and liquids.

We are so thankful for the blessing of caring family, friends and medical people. But most of all, a caring God and Father who gives strength, wisdom and encouragement as He gives us opportunities to prepare for an eternity with Him. We are well cared for both physically and spiritually!

Thursday was an especially long day. I started out shortly after 5:00 AM for my office to make my weekly “bread run,” took Carol to the Oncologist at 8:30, returned home with her after infusions and CT scans at a far away hospital (thank you Jon) after 5:00 PM and was able to squeak into the dealership just a few minutes before their closing at 6:00 to pick up our car that had been in the “hospital” for four days getting needed warranty work. As I drove into our drive after the very full day, a dear neighbor was walking to our door in the rain with a complete hot meal for me. Lunch at the Oncologist had something to be desired…Crackers and orange juice. Earlier in the week a coworker called to say that there was a package for me in the office refrigerator…my meal for that evening. I could go on and on about how the Lord ministered to us through His people, but I need to keep this short.

All of the hours of waiting also give me an opportunity to work on an occasional Sudoku puzzle and do much reading. Erwin Lutzer makes the statement in his book Your Eternal Reward, “We want life to be smooth, secure, uninterrupted. God has a different agenda. He is purifying us, testing us, training us so that we might be presented to Him as a pure church, ready to take our place sitting next to Christ on His throne.” That reminds me of another well read author, the Apostle Paul who writes in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 “For our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.”

Thank you Lord for every experience that you bring into our lives. May we allow each one to accomplish your purpose in and through us!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Chuck…and Carol too