Can We Ever Repay??

It was interesting, last night after we put the kids to bed Mary and I were sitting in the room talking when Toby came in obviously with something on his mind.  “I don’t feel right” he says with a troubled look on his face.  After talking for some time it seems the struggle surrounds how he feels he can’t repay people for all that is going on.  Friends have given him birthday presents, people have taken them places and he wants to show them in return how he appreciates it.  WOW! A child can sure closely mimick the feelings and emotions of his parents!  We had a wonderful time talking through it with him before we laid down to pray and then drew our attention and appreciations back to God who is the Giver of all perfect gifts.  

Mary and I have spent some time reflecting this week on how overwhelming itcan be to be receiving so much blessing and care in this season.  Is there really any way we can ever sufficiently SAY thank you?  Words are somewhat empty when it comes to the love we have experienced.  We all know there is no way to “pay people back”, and that’s not the point, but human nature wants to express gratitude and ensure people are appreciated.  We don’t want to take the blessing for granted or begin to feel entitled due to our situation, but to somehow express our heart of gratification to both people and to God.  

This picture is a great representation of the good that has been given to us! Sarah visited New Hope a couple of years ago and truly bonded with our kids. She lives nearby us in southern California and took our kids out for a long day of fun this past month. She brought her younger brothers with her who are near to our kids' ages. They had SO MUCH FUN together and we are grateful for her generosity to us!!! 

Isn’t it the same with God?  How could we ever repay God for what He has done?  So many people are caught in the trap of trying to gain God’s favor through works.  If they will pray enough, give enough, preach or evangelize then they believe God will grant them His mercy and blessing.  The truth is there is no repaying, but what God is asking of us is to live our lives devoted unto him.  Micah 6:8 says “O man what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”  In essence the only possible way to “re-pay” God for what He has done is to yield our lives unto Him.  Even then it is not repayment but an expression of our love toward Him for what He has done.  

We are thankful for our neighbors who seem to never cease in their generosity and show of friendship toward us. This picture is of our impromptu pizza picnic on our front lawn one evening. 

This week I have entered into the isolation phase of this round, we are expecting my white counts to be dropping this week as the chemo rids my body of all white blood cells both good and cancerous.  We visit the Doc for periodic blood checks to monitor what is happening.  We continue to praise God as the journey has been good.  Not without some suffering and not without some emotional lows, but filled with His reassurance that we are in His hands and He continues to reveal Himself in new and exciting ways.  

What is next is another PET scan which will determine how many more rounds of chemo I will be subjected to.  We are expecting this scan to show my body free of cancer cells which will mean only two more rounds for good measure.  This is standard, after a clear PET they do 2 more just to kill any last cancer cells.  If all goes well, and we expect it to, we will be returning to Uganda in October.  Please continue to pray for this as we deeply miss our Ugandan children and the family there in Kasana.  

Again I hope I don’t sound like a broken record but  THANK YOU FOR THE OUTPOURING OF LOVE, FINANCES, PRAYERS, ENCOURAGEMENT we are eternally grateful and praise God for each and every one of you.

The Carpool Lane

I love the carpool lane--when it serves me well. Flying past all those other drivers who don’t have a passenger in their car and therefore cannot take advantage of rolling down the highway at high speeds toward their destination. Of course, often in Southern California the carpool lane holds no advantage in swiftness and is just as back-logged as any other of the bazillion lanes lining the coast. Yet, regardless of whether it is slow or fast moving on the day you’re carpooling, qualifying to travel in the “special” lane gives a mysterious feeling of privilege.

When I take Toby south to Huntington Beach to his boy scout meeting each week, we work hard at trying to get over from our entrance to the 405 south at Cherry to the carpool lane. This feat is a real trick as the traffic is usually thick at Cherry and the window of opportunity for entering the carpool lane before the dreaded double-yellow line appears, is slim. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I have to wait the 2+ miles for the next opening. C’est la vie.

The fines for traveling in the carpool lane as a single occupant are pretty stiff, “minimum carpool violation $341”--doesn’t break the bank, but is certainly a waste of good God-given funds! I don’t see a violator very often, but when I do my ire rises. First of all, I’m over here because it’s legal for me to be here, and second of all I’m over here because I have some place to go and you are in my way! Sounds very kind and generous, doesn’t it? Driving in Southern California sometimes fails to bring out my best.

Toby’s involvement with the boy scouts finds us frequently traveling the 405 south to Huntington Beach. On a recent Saturday morning there was a pancake breakfast with the Lion’s Club. Toby had signed up to help from 9-11 a.m., so he and I, along with Kevin and Acacia, cruised down in the carpool lane, because we could, to enjoy piping hot pancakes and very unhealthy, but delicious, sausage. After indulging, we decided to leave Toby to his work and travel back up to Long Beach until the time came to retrieve him.

In the carpool lane later as the journey to Huntington Beach commenced, I victoriously smiled as I enjoyed the fact I had made it all the way over as soon as I got on the freeway!! Not too long after that I noticed someone violating the lane!!! The nerve of that single occupant. “Who does he think he is??? Does he think he’ll really get away with that??? I’m sure there are police nearby--but, he is boldly moving along as if it is no big deal!”  I decided to pray and squelch my indignation. At peace once again, I moved on down the 405 toward my destination. At the next bend in the road I saw that indeed the man in front of me had a passenger and I relaxed again. Whew! First I breathed a sigh of relief for the driver who was no longer a target for the police to ticket. And then I whimsically had the notion that “Poof!” A passenger had appeared!--or was it my own perspective that had been skewed and the passenger was there all along??? :)

Suddenly, about 4 miles later, to my horror, I realized I was alone in the truck!!! I am so used to having passengers that I didn’t even realize I was the violator!  What came rushing to my mortified mind as I sheepishly moved over to the next lane?  Something about not pointing out the speck in someone else’s eye while failing to notice to huge piece of timber protruding out of my own???

Will I ever become proficient in grace? forgiveness? mercy? Or will I continue perfecting only my innate ability to judge? I’ve already demonstrated that when I was convinced that guy had been violating the carpool lane and I had not been, I didn’t extend any grace or mercy toward him. 

What is that? My bent toward self--that’s what it is. Adults easily notice the self-centered focus in children, but we fail to see its glaring presence in our own hearts. We become proficient in explaining away our own selfish thoughts and behaviors and therefore lack proficiency in extending forgiveness, understanding and grace toward those we bump into in life. Bump into or run over, whatever the case may be.

LORD, give me Your spirit of grace and mercy. Train me in forgiveness. Strengthen my desire to be like you and to give you honor with my thoughts and behavior, and weaken my strategizing toward paltry solo advances through the relationships and opportunities You’ve given me in this world. Amen.

Sing with us, "On the Road Again!"

We’re back on the road that brings us closer and closer to Uganda!  

Today is the first day of the second round of chemotherapy treatment. The good news is that it is happening one full week earlier than we had expected. A cycle is targeted at one week of chemo followed by three weeks of recovery before starting again. Geoff’s first cycle was only three weeks in total!  

Flying the flags in Joshua Tree

Unfortunately, the reason we are starting earlier is due to the fact that his counts didn’t drop as low as they wanted the first time. Which probably also contributed to relatively few days of him feeling fairly poor. He felt so well and his counts were strong enough that he was able to spend this past weekend in Joshua Tree with Toby and Kevin and about 65 other father/son groups climbing, flying on the zip line and braving the sweltering heat during hikes in the desert! He hiked three miles on Saturday and took a long walk with me this morning before we left for the doctor’s office.

Kevin, Bruce and Toby on the morning 3-mile hike. The opportunity to go on this trip was given to our family by Bruce who also provided our tents, sleeping bags, and many of the other incidentals needed to effectively camp in the desert!

Kevin was pretty good on the slack line!

So, here we are again in Dr. Vora’s office not sure exactly what to expect of Geoff’s individual reaction as they “hit him harder” this time by upping the doses of his various chemo drugs. As I write, in these past five minutes the first bag has been hung and the process is off and running! Dr. Vora was just in to review Geoff’s progress and discuss any of our questions. He reminded us that the chemo regimen Geoff is receiving typically requires a 5-day in-patient hospital stay. Again this week, we will be in the office today for about six hours receiving numerous infusions. At the end of the infusions today they will send us home with a pump of meds that will continuously infuse until Wednesday. On Wednesday we will return to have a new bag of meds hooked up to the pump and we’ll be on our way home again until Friday when we gladly give them back the pump until round three! Dr. Vora is so encouraging and we are thankful for the blessing of having him coordinate our walk through this medical adventure. We are extremely blessed to experience all of this OUTSIDE of the hospital environment and in the sanctuary of our own home!

The view of our lovely garden from the french doors that lead outside off of our bedroom.

The view of the other side of the garden from the french doors. Geoff can rest with this view to savor.

After this week, the drug effects on Geoff over the following two weeks will be tiredness, bone aches and pains, and a drop of his white cell count to desired levels. At the end of three to four weeks he will have another PET scan to detect any lingering lymphoma. If the PET scan shows NO cancer, then he will have only two more cycles of chemotherapy (finishing in September.) If the PET scan shows some lymphoma remaining then he will have to continue treatments beyond September and through November. Obviously, we desire the PET scan to show NO LYMPHOMA!!!!! Please pray with us for such a result. The PET scan will probably occur around July 19th, but is not yet scheduled for an exact date.

Our hope is to have only four cycles so that we can get back to Uganda before the end of October! 

The kids are at the beach with friends today. Sorry for them, it is the typical “June Gloom” of southern California--overcast and windy. However, I’m sure they will find fun in whatever they are doing. Living cross-culturally has taught us many things, one of which is to strive to find the good in all situations, "sunny" or "cloudy."

As Geoff's hair has slowly been falling out unevenly due to the chemo, we took matters into our own hands and just shaved it all off! The boys joined him in his "minimal hair" look and Acacia cut her long locks off on Saturday and will send them to "Wigs for Kidz"

Kevin is not so sure about it all, but wants to support Dad!

Toby ALWAYS loves his head shaved!

All the "bald heads"

Geoff receives special comfort kisses from Bela because she knows how it feels to lose all the hair!!

Thank you for your prayers for us and for your interest in our lives. We appreciate you all very much!

My ramblings...

Where to begin, this is always the hardest part of writing for me, beginning.  The past few days have been filled with great exultation, is that the right word? Not sure, but I can’t help but praise God today.  If I could climb up onto the roof top and shout His greatness I would do it, though in today’s time I might end up arrested :-)  So just read this loudly with me.

Psalm 149:1-6 Praise the Lord!  Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly!  Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre! For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation. Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their throats 

and two-edged swords in their hands, 

Beginning yesterday morning, well actually for some time, but especially yesterday, I have been humbled to the point of tears over God’s goodness.  I spent a lot of time reflecting on the state of my life and the current events, looking at my family, both American and Ugandan.  Praying for grace, healing and asking the question, “what is next?”  One thing I have known and again purposed is that my family and my purpose is to bring glory to God while we are here on this earth.  God’s sovereign grace and great love for His people caused Him to choose me for His service.  

But over the past few days I can’t help but recognize how involved God has been in my life.  Many believers are nothing more than passive agnostics, believing in God, but believing He is far away or way too busy to be concerned with their lives or affairs.  As I spend time reading and meditating God’s word, it is hard to understand how any of us can come to that conclusion.  We continually read of his power working in people’s lives to bring them healing, salvation, instituting maturity and interacting with them on a personal basis.  Think of Zacchaeus, this wee little man, a sinner, tax collector presumably no significance in God’s kingdom.  Yet Jesus came upon him, recognized him by name and went to have fellowship with him.  Or Simon Peter, no education a mere fisherman struggling to survive.  Jesus choose him to be one of his original apostles.  Spending the next 3 1/2 years walking, talking and teaching him the important things of the Kingdom of God, turning the world upside down through him. 

As I look at my life I can’t help but feel similar, who am I God?  Uncle Jonnes preached a message last year called “Nze Ani?” (who am I?)  The message truly impacted me, thank you Mze.  And honestly compared to the magnificence of God, the one who created the universe my life seems so in-significant.  Yet He continues to pour out His goodness, revealing to me His love and the fact that He has a plan for me and my family.  

One thing that I have had time to contemplate was how things have truly transpired over the past 18 months.  It may be hard for you not sitting in my shoes to see it but let me try and paint a picture for you.  Last January God began speaking to me about abundance, those of you who follow this blog might remember a post on January 1st, here is the link if you choose to read again.  

http://www.brittonsinuganda.blogspot.com/2012/01/abundance-for-2012.html

What I did not know at that time was this was the beginning of a journey that we are still on.  The very message God gave me about His abundant provision wether in times of struggle or great victory is much of what is speaking to me today.  It was then a couple of weeks later during our annual envisioning time that God spoke to me a very clear and distinct word during worship one day.  Initially it is not the kind of word that sounds encouraging but with understanding it is freeing.  He told me “Geoff, you own nothing and everything you have was given to you”  For us as Americans who are into amassing our wealth, the idea of owning nothing makes you a popper, some one completely of no significance.  But in a Kingdom perspective, my father, The King of Kings owns everything and freely gives to His children thus freeing me of that burden.  

A few months later the latest word of direction came during prayer, “Change was coming”.  Wow, what did that mean?  Was He calling us back to the U.S.? What did it mean?  Actually this word brought more fear to my heart because you know I am the kind of guy that likes to know what is happening.  It was during the time of seeking that Jay Dangers approached me about a job change for me moving into the area of spiritual development and the manhood program.

But that’s not all, Mary and I both were feeling that we really did not want to come back for this furlough, we just weren’t ready.  God was moving, relationships were growing and we were all very healthy spiritually, coming to the states did not seem necessary.  But as God is good and promises to lead us as a shepherd does his sheep He encouraged us both that His timing was right and we were to come.  Obviously we can now see the importance of being stateside with a diagnosis of lymphoma.  He knew what we needed and was orchestrating our lives with great care and precision.  

Jumping to the current status of our lives I look at the complexity of the things that have come together over the past few months and it is amazing.  This house we live in was specially prepared for this season in our lives, the timing, the amenities, the location, it was prepared for us.  We have had an abundance of finances provided for our survival, furniture that covers all our needs, a vehicle, great doctors, fellowship...I could go on and on it’s amazing no lack!

Back in March a friend of ours was woken up with a dream that he knew had to be for us and so he took the time to write it out and share it with me.  Without going into detail of the dream, I knew it had significance yet was not sure exactly how.  Well yesterday I felt during my time with the Lord, God was encouraging me again from that dream as well as the previous words He had given.  I have been reading through the minor prophets as part of daily reading, yesterday I came to Haggai and made some connection.  

Haggai 2:8-9 - The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts.  The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’ ” 

You remember the word about how I owned nothing, that everything I had was given to me.  Life, health, family, possessions, you name it given to me.  Well as God reminded me in this passage, it is His and He is the one leading me, guiding me and perfecting the things of my life.  The dream had to do with a ricky machine that I was working hard to keep running yet in the end God came in to transform it to a glorious state.  And just like the passage in Haggai God is transforming me.

Truly this season is one of trying, testing but also purifying.  God is using things in my life, circumstances, words to transform me into the man he wants me to be.  My life is not my own and the joy in that is it belongs to Him.  I don’t need to strive in my efforts to succeed, to please Him or to make a way for me or my family.  My job and duty is to submit to the Lord who cares for me.  

1 Peter 5:7 - ...casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

My prayer is that through my journey God will be glorified.  That His name shall be lifted up for all to see His goodness.  And that many of those who struggle with trusting His plan for their lives can find the encouragement to release control, throw them selves upon the mercy of God and allow Him to fully be God to them.  The complexity of God is often far beyond our ability to understand, he tells us that in His word.  Our job is not to try and figure out God’s plan but to commit ourselves, our lives to faith.  Trusting that God is good and allowing Him to work in our lives, leading us guiding us and as He promises caring for us.  

Isaiah 55:8-9 - For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Seeing how God has walked with me, led me and has a plan for my life, how can I do anything but trust that he will continue.  God is healing me of cancer and I rejoice that I will live to testify of the great things He has done.

Psalm 118:17 - I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.

This picture really speaks of the complexity yet the beauty we find in God.  ENJOY

Yum, Yum

We've just returned from a fantastic family dinner . . . sharing some pictures with the masses. Thanks for being part of the masses.

Shelby, Bela and Charles

Mom and Geoff

L toR around the table Laura, Bela, Shelby, Charles, Mom, Geoff, Kevin, Mary, Acacia, Glenda, Toby, Santi

Geoff finished his first round of chemo today. The pump was retired until next month and he got his first real shower since last week! Lots to celebrate there. So, we went out to dinner with the fam. 

Mom and Laura have been wanting to take us to Dominic's--one of my dad's favorite places while he was still with us. Tonight seemed like the perfect time and it was! 

The doctor confirmed that indeed Geoff's throat mass is continuing to shrink. He is pleased with how Geoff has responded to chemo so far, but cautioned that he will become progressively more tired as next week rolls on. We will go in to the office on Monday and Thursday for blood count checks and the July dose of chemo will be adjusted according to what the counts show. In fact, we will be seeing all those lovely "doctor office people" each week of every month through October for blood count checks.
Have a lovely weekend!!! Blessings to you all!
mary

Feeling very Ugandan!

Today started out as we expected with chemo this morning, but Geoff finished much earlier than we thought. I stayed the first hour with him as they unhooked his pump and connected other medicines to be infused in the office. We had understood that today would be a long day, so at 10:30 I left and ran some errands. We decided that I would return at 1 p.m., but at 11:15 they called to say he was ready to be picked up!!!!! So, back to the office I went and collected Mr. Britton complete with a new bag of chemotherapy attached to his porta-cath.

He is feeling great, other than some pesky hiccups. I filled a prescription to help suppress the hiccups which are a side effect of one of the medicines, but so far it hasn't helped very much.

The growth in his throat is noticeably smaller, both visually and by touch. Only three days into chemo and firm results are already showing!!!!! God is moving! The doctor was surprised at the amount of shrinkage already occurring in the throat growth! hallelujah!

Once we were home again I  began to feel like I was in Uganda!  WHY?  Because of the numerous visits we received!!! Before we'd been home even five minutes our dear neighbor came and delivered some cupcakes--stating that they were to go with our afternoon tea! (What Americans have afternoon tea for cryin' out loud?????--except if they've experienced it from another culture!) This particular neighbor is one of the blessings God recently planted in our lives. Geoff and I met her on Sunday afternoon in her front yard as our kids were all playing together. She immediately invited us in for beans, tortillas and cheese! We sat down with her and, as we enjoyed her beans and cheese straight from her family's farm in Honduras, learned that she is a very strong believer in the Lord God. We spent time in prayer with her and enjoyed a peaceful and encouraging visit that afternoon! My prayer is that she and I can have afternoon tea some day soon!

Not too long after she left another neighbor came over with some treats for the children and agreed to stay and visit for awhile. We learned that she is a cancer survivor--declared free only yesterday!  She brought us some fruit and spent about 30 minutes with us. How blessed we are!

About 30 minutes after she left a dear, dear friend of mine from east Africa came with a friend of hers to pray with us.  I wish I could say she is from Uganda--that would make my Ugandan day complete, but she is from Tanzania--close enough!!  After we visited awhile with tea (!), we worshiped and prayed together. It was faith-strengthening and encouraging.  And, true to feeling Ugandan, we had to give their car a "push" before they went. (We had to give them a jump with cables and fill it with water to get the car started and running well--it all made us feel very at home!!!)

Once all the visitors left I noticed that our yard was full of kids!  Toby, Acacia and Kevin have been blessed with some sweet neighbor kids to play with and we are grateful to God for all the sweet treats He is giving us with new friendships!

Israel, Jessica, Geoff and me after their visit this afternoon. Notice I'm on the phone--talking to Jessica's sister who happened to call at the same time we were saying good-bye!

Boys never fail to enjoy guns!!!

Toby and his new friend making plans for a nerf war

Our "banda" where we hold class for school. It is going as well as one can expect interspersed amongst dr visits and chemo appointments!  

Geoff's office, my exercise room, the kids sewing room and our music room all combined. 

Blessings to you and thank you for praying for us!!! God is good ALL THE TIME!!

P.S. As I pushed the "publish" button for this blog we received a call from another friend who is on her way by for a visit!!!!! The Uganda day just keeps on going . . . :) Pardon me while I put the kettle on for tea . . . .

chemo day one is almost over!

Chemo Day 1--history, almost. I still have a boy scout meeting to attend in Huntington Beach.

We didn’t know what to expect this morning. There were two types of chemo regimens for the doc to choose from and as of Friday we didn’t know yet for sure which one he would lean toward. As he explained today, the analysis of the growth in Geoff’s throat shows that it is a very aggressive form of lymphoma. (on a “scale” of 0-100 Geoff’s is in the 80-90% range) The good news still is that the cancer is limited to the throat only so, although it is better to do the more extensive chemo, we expect a complete positive response.

The more extensive chemo could theoretically require a hospital stay this week, but instead Geoff will receive chemo all this week as an outpatient. Today this meant spending six hours in the doctor’s office receiving numerous infusions through his recently placed and well-functioning porta-cath. At the end of the day we received a portable pump which was connected to the port and will deliver a continuous dose of three different chemo drugs around-the-clock until we return Wednesday morning. On Wednesday we will again spend six hours receiving IV chemo and will leave that day with another pump setup. This means that he can be home both tomorrow and Thursday instead of having to go in to the office everyday this week. On Friday he will receive one drug and it should only take an hour. 

We spent a lot of time talking to the nurse practitioner regarding the medicines, expectations for side effects, further prescriptions, overall treatment time frame and expected periodic blood tests. The doctor later also sat with us for awhile and we were both very pleased with the time they each gave to us and the thorough explanations they provided. 

I have to admit to being quite nervous going into today. Not knowing what to expect and having heard so many different stories of other’s experience gave a bit of uneasiness to the whole adventure. The staff truly helped us adjust to the day long adventure and we are grateful.

I went home in the middle of the day to get some snacks and water for Geoff and I was VERY BLESSED to find that in the mail today came NUMEROUS letters from our David family (and a few passersby!!!!) I still haven’t had time to read them all, but the ones I’ve read have brought tears to my eyes.  These letters were written in the first week of May and carried back to the states to be mailed.  The fact that we received them TODAY is the providence of our Good Lord who KNEW we needed to hear TODAY from our dear children and friends in David family! I sat by Geoff’s side as he received his last 1 1/2 hours of chemo and was virtually transported to the David family banda as I heard their voices speaking their love to me!  THANK YOU AUNT NANCY FOR GIVING THE CHILDREN TIME AND OPPORTUNITY TO WRITE TO US!!!!!

I would love to write more, but Toby has a boy scout meeting and we certainly don’t want to be late!!!!!  I’ll leave you with a picture of my scouting boys!!!! In a couple of weeks Acacia will be starting soccer (football) and we’ll put in a photo of her then!  For today, here is a picture of her riding the scooter in our back yard.

cub scout Kevin Troop 21 and boy scout Toby Troop 1

reading our David Family letters

P.S. Kate and Beth Kirchner are headed to New Hope in a couple of days, and we were privileged to spend Sunday afternoon with the whole Kirchner family!  It was a fun time of sharing, eating, laughing and catching up with friends!

Tomorrow is the day...

Well, tomorrow is the day, chemo day 1...Many questions linger around the chemo and how I will react.  Earlier in the journey I spent time focusing on what to do or not to do in order to lessen the effect of the chemicals on my body.  There are thousands of ideas out there surrounding diet, exercise, supplements and so forth--a guy could really be confused.  Who is right?  Which voice do I listen to?  Well, this week as I was recovering from the insertion of the porta-cath I was reminded of a scripture that I had been confessing earlier on in this battle... 

Psalm 33:16-19 - The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.

In reality it does not matter what other peoples’ experience has been.  My life is not determined by what others pass thru nor is my hope in the wisdom of man.  Our doctors are great and I am very thankful for them, but if my hope is tied up in them then I have a false hope.  My hope is in the steadfast love of God, He is the one that will deliver my soul and preserve my life.  

It’s not that I had forgotten this but my mind had drifted and my focus caught by other things.  Very easy to do in life, not just a battle with cancer.  The Apostle Paul encourages us in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 that much of our spiritual battle takes place in our minds, the strongholds or thoughts that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God.  We need to take those thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ and His word.  I thank God for His word and all my friends that are encouraging me with different  scriptures, I even have one that sends an email every day with a different faith-filled scripture to encourage me.  I have said this before, but I will say it again, my destiny is tied up in God and His plan for me and my existence is to bring Him glory.  May tomorrow be filled with the glory of God.

Psalm 138:7-8 - Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.