"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Learning to Surrender
As I ponder what to share with you this month, the theme that continues to ring true in my life right now is just learning to surrender. Cancer has taken so much away from us and changed our lives to such an extent that there is really no way for anything to ever be the way it was again. We will never be the same as a couple or a family again. And that is a fact.
And in the midst of that reality I am learning that as we continue to move forward I must give everything to God. Everything in my world must be completely and fully surrendered to Him no matter what. It is hard enough when you have no control of anything, but to accept that you will never gain the control you once had back is another thing altogether.
And that is in essence the reality I have been forced to accept and walk through these past few months. Although the treatment is over, nothing is really the same. My body is not the same, my emotions are not the same, my energy level is not the same, my house is not the same, my husband is not the same, my children are older, taller and not the same. Everything in my life is completely different including myself. Even I came out of it a different person. And I could choose to be frustrated with that or try in my own strength (and fail miserably) to go back to the way it was. Or I can trust God and fully surrender to Him moment by moment and allow him to do his perfect work in and through it all. And if I'm honest it is so hard to be that fully dependent on Him for everything but I know deep down that's what He wants.
Aw the joys of surrendering... I'm sure you understand.
In the end we must all choose to remember that the LORD is the author of change and that His ways are not our own. His ways are so much better then yours and mine. We must all learn to be thankful for the changes we cannot control. After all our sanctification is about surrendering to the glory of God... being conformed to the image of Christ through our weaknesses and frailty so others (including ourselves) can witness the sufficiency of Christ. Besides what we call control is really just an illusion anyways right? Why fight for something so illusive?
As the image bearers of Christ we must each learn to lay down our own rights, ways, methods & dreams, in essence all we are and want to be, the the "I's" & "me's" that plague our hearts and let the Lord be the LORD and master of everything we hold dear. After all He paid for us with His Son, gave us His Spirit and the promise of a life beyond our wildest dreams. The least we can do in return is embrace the Fully surrendered life!
We love you!! Thank you for being a vital part of our family!
In Christ, Cindy
Praises:
-For special moments together as a family!!
-For Noah starting preschool!
Prayer Requests
1. For the health and protection of our family!! We have started cold and flu season and the kids have already been battling a couple strong viruses. Please pray the Lord would sustain and protect Cindy from them. Pray also that they would stay healthy and strong this season.
2. For Cindy's health. Her white blood cells are unusually low and Drs are concern. They may schedule her up comimg PET scan early just to be safe. Pray for Cindy's lack of energy. Pray that she would just be fighting something and the cancer would not be back. Pray for us as we continue to trust the Lord for her health.
3. Pray for wisdom and guidance and we move forward into the future.
4. Pray for Noah as he is potty training and starting a new school. Pray he has understanding and he gets it. Pray for us as we help him in this process. Pray also for him to learn and adjust well at his preschool.
Here are some recent pictures of our family to enjoy!!
