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.