LIVING ON THE EDGE OF ADVENTURE!

Most of our lives are kind of ordinary, I know mine is.  Much of my days, weeks, months and years have been made up of routine.

I get up, have coffee, watch the news.

I make beds, do laundry, clean, prepare meals.

I food shop, run errands, occasionally meet a friend, read books.

I talk with my husband, my daughters, my family.

I read my Bible, prepare lessons, teach Sunday school, attend church, pray.

I go to bed, get up and do it all over again.

Now and then my life has been punctuated by special joys: like getting an advanced degree, having children and a grandchild, teaching the Bible. Often it has included difficulties and sorrow.  It's probably a lot like your life.

A week before my mom died I turned 60.  I spent that day and the next week of days at her bedside.  Reaching such a significant age myself just as Mom was coming to the end of her life brought me face to face with the reality of death and life’s brevity.  I began to think in terms of how I wanted to spend whatever time is left to me, so I started a list I call, “things I’ve done after the age of 60”.  Some of the things on that list are:

·        Serving on an actual jury and loving it! 

·        Zip lining in Canada with Jim

·        Riding a camel and a motorcycle

·        Climbing a rock wall (indoors)

·        Taking a cruise with both my girls and their husbands and families

·        Tutoring a lovely Japanese women in English

All of these have been “whoo hoo!” moments of celebration and joy and some have even been lots of fun, but not a one compares to living on the edge of a God-designed adventure of dependence on Him.

That’s what this coming kidney donation is for me.  There is a part of me that is scared about all the “what-ifs” that go with having surgery of any kind.  Things like infections, a difficult recovery, or even death.  But then there is the other side of me that views this whole thing as another of those exciting God things in which He invites us to participate.

How can Jennifer (my kidney recipient) and I not get excited about what lies ahead when we have so clearly seen the Lord answer our prayers and guide our actions? 

For years it had been Jennifer’s prayer that when it came time for a transplant the Lord would bless her with a pre-emptive, live donor.  And the Lord answered her prayers by moving my heart to investigate if I could be her donor so that everything was in place for a transplant before it was time to undergo dialysis!  What were the chances that this particular miracle could have come about by chance?  Ask anyone waiting on a transplant list and you'll find out how rare it is to find someone, never mind find someone so quickly.

With the surgery scheduled just two weeks from today Jennifer and I have been praying together every day on the phone, encouraging one another and getting excited together as we anticipate what lies ahead.

We are getting ourselves spiritually prepared as well, drawing closer to the Lord and His Word in preparation for bringing Him glory in the way we go through these days of waiting, during the recovery process, and in the way we make Him known to our families, and those who will care for us. 

I have a friend Lisa who owns a dog named Elbe.  I love that guy!  When I visit her house he greets me with barking long before I even reach the door.  Then, when I step inside, he leans up against me while I pet him, and as I start to walk away it’s as if he’s glued to my leg with Velcro!  Where I go, Elbe goes!  I love that about him.  Leaning in is what Jennifer and I are doing while we spend these two weeks preparing.  Where the Lord goes, we go, sticking to Him like Velcro!  I'm sure He loves it when His children do that!

There is NOTHING like a faith adventure to cause you to realize your complete human inadequacy to go where God is leading and to throw you, body, soul, and spirit on the Lord in dependence!  So you learn to lean in – to rest in Him, and to draw on His resources of strength, power, peace and purpose. 

In just two weeks Jennifer and I are going to undergo surgery.  It’s anxiety producing now, and will most assuredly give us both some pain afterward.  But in the end, neither one of us would want to miss for a single minute the excitement of living on the edge when we’re on adventure with the Lord!

ASSIGNMENT #1

A month ago now I finished a series of classes to train as a hospice volunteer.  Hospice is considered end of life care, made available when it is estimated that a person has 6 months or less of life.  Instead of providing measures to prolong life such as a hospital would do, hospice provides a peaceful setting, and pain medication to keep a patient comfortable until their life’s end.  Hospice is a great source of support to family members as well.

My experience of being with my mom through the last five weeks of her life and through her own hospice care was so positive and blessed that I wanted to be able to do that for others. 

Because I am a Christian, I really wanted to be able to be an instrument of the:

“God of all comfort, who comforts us in our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” 

2 Corinthians 1:3b-5

A hesitation I had of working with the hospice program of a local hospital is that of having to be sensitive to all religious backgrounds.  I do have a respect for the belief systems of others, but because I’m a Christian I’m much more prepared to give the kind of comfort which will resonate with and give comfort to believers in Christ. 

In addition to my mom, I also visited with Hilda, whom I wrote about in another blog.  With each of these believing women, I was free to read from the Bible and to sing hymns and encourage them with the hope of heaven.  That’s the kind of experience I longed to bring to my hospice volunteering.  So, I’ve kept in the back of my mind that idea that if I find I don’t know how to give comfort apart from the faith in which I stand, then I might eventually offer my services in a local Christian nursing home.

Today I visited my first patient.  When I met yesterday with the hospice volunteer coordinator she assigned this lady to me with this comment:  “I saw an open Bible on her dresser, so you might want to read it to her and pray.”  I was overjoyed! 

I walked into the room to find the patient quietly sleeping.  I gently spoke to tell her who I was and that I was there to visit and then, for the next 40 minutes I read God’s Word.  I read from the Psalms of David, from the words of Jesus in the gospels, and from the promises of the New Heaven and the New Earth from the book of Revelation.  Aside from a slowing of her respiration, there was no response from the patient.

I’m sure not all of my hospice experiences will be like this, but this was certainly a blessed way to begin. 

 

 

WE HAVE A TRANSPLANT DATE!

If you have been following my blogs then you know that it has been nearly a year since I began the process of qualifying to be a kidney donor, and much, much longer still for my friend Jennifer to be in the place of finding one healthy kidney to replace her diseased kidneys.  Well, the date has finally been set.  On Wednesday, August 14, I will give, and Jennifer will receive, a healthy kidney.

Just the other day I shared with someone about this and they asked if I was sure I knew what I was doing.  Being sure isn’t something I’ve struggled with at all. 

Last summer I, like all the members of our church, knew that Jennifer was on the list for a deceased donor kidney.  Then the doctors gave her the news that in six months to a year she would have to go on dialysis.  So, at the urging of her daughters, Jennifer posted on Facebook a link with information about the process of becoming a living donor.  She wasn’t asking at all for someone to donate to HER, just putting the information out there in case someone might be interested.

I’ve had several surgeries and I can’t say that seeing the link made me say, “Boy, that sounds great!  I think I’ll volunteer!”  It did however, start me thinking, and I knew that the prompting to think was at the direction of God the Holy Spirit, because it wasn’t a here today, gone tomorrow, thought.

What I did think was, “Okay, Lord, this seems like your leading, so I’ll take the first step and see what happens”.  Before I knew it, over the next many months, one step lead to another and then another, all with good test results, until I was finally approved as a donor.  We have been waiting now for many months for Jennifer's kidneys to indicate that the time had come to do the transplant.

Many people from church knew about the transplant by word of mouth but yesterday was the first day that it was put in the bulletin and so many people, out of kindness, greeted me, and without meaning to, made me uncomfortable.

On the one hand, Jennifer and I are counting on the prayers of God’s people and we certainly want them to be praying for us and encouraging us with their words and so they need to know that the surgery is coming soon.  But I'm so uncomfortable when people make it sound as if I am some kind of super person for doing it.  I am SO not! 

I am though prone to pride.  Prone to believe that I really am quite hot stuff.  There is real danger for me in those comments, so let me answer this question for you:

Why am I undergoing an unneeded surgery to give up a perfectly good kidney? 

Well, when I was considering following up on what it takes to be a donor, I did what most of do when faced with a major decision.  I reasoned and came up with this:

·        I’ve had many surgeries and they don’t really scare me.  Surgery wasn’t a stumbling block.

·        I have two perfectly good, healthy kidneys and can certainly spare one for someone who has two diseased kidneys.

·        I’m 66, I think I can live with some diminished kidney function for whatever remaining days the Lord gives me. 

·        I’m in pretty good shape for my age.

·        Jennifer is a woman who loves life.  If I can help give her more good years, then why not?

The absolute bottom line however, and the reason why I didn't dwell on the "What if's", (like surgery complications, infections, even death) was that the Lord had laid Jennifer and her situation on my heart.  It's why I went ahead, and why I couldn't say no, and why I have no second thoughts now.

Does that mean that I’m not anxious?  No, I’m anxious.  Who wouldn’t be anxious about having surgery? 

 

Does that mean that those "what if's" don't occasionally make me afraid?  No. 

 

But, when all is said and done, my over arching emotion is peace.

Today I read in Psalm 29 what David said about God.  He said:

“The LORD is enthroned as King forever, He gives STRENGTH to His people.  He blesses His people with PEACE.”

This is not a situation likely to make Jennifer or me feel strong and at peace.  Humanly, we don’t have what it takes! 

 

However, it is a HUGE encouragement to know that the LORD does! He promises us all the strength and peace we need - every day, every moment, for as long as we need it - and He will deliver!  He IS delivering!   

Without the Lord’s leading, I wouldn’t have the courage for this.  I would not have pursued it.  I would not have gone through the testing.  I would be running the other way now.  But He has led and because HE is in this, He and He alone, deserves any praise.

So please do not tell me I’M something, instead, do what David says in Psalm 29:1:

Ascribe to the LORD GLORY and STRENGTH.  Ascribe to the LORD

 the GLORY DUE HIS NAME.

MYSTERIES, MONKS AND GREGORIAN CHANTS

I love reading mysteries.  I enjoy the mental puzzles they present as the intrigues unfold.  I enjoy pondering the truths and lies that make for a good mystery by sending us readers down numerous rabbit trails that have nothing to do with the crime.  I love believable characters with depth and complexity.

I prefer the kinds of mysteries set in little English villages because their murders are more about the intrigue than the blood and guts murder itself, and usually contain little, if any, swearing or sexual content.  If a plot is intricate, the characterization interesting, and the setting one in which I could picture myself, I can get lost and finish a book in a day.  So when I picked up a book this week that had all of those, I was hooked! 

The murder plot was set in an abbey, of all places!  Not just any abbey, but one hidden away on an island in Quebec, unknown and practically unreachable, inhabited by a cloister of monks everyone thought no longer existed.  Until they made a recording of Gregorian chants and gained worldwide attention.  Everything went downhill from there.

The book was riveting and I loved every minute of it, was sorry when I was finished and had to put it down.  But in the end, it wasn’t the story itself that still has me thinking about it.  It was it’s setting in an abbey and not just any abbey, but in an abbey which was home to Gregorian chant singing monks. 

The author’s description of the beauty and solitude of the abbey, with the worshipful voices of monks filling it with joyful sound, spoke to the longing in my heart for that same kind of solitude. I could even picture the place.  The coolness of the stone walls, the simplicity of the furnishings, the smell of incense, the quiet of the monks who, when they weren’t singing, were absolutely silent.  I could imagine the enclosure within the walls where the animals were kept, and another which was a garden.  I could picture the monks in their robes and sun hats working quietly outdoors at their various chores.  I wanted to BE there!

If you’ve read my blogs before then you know that I am a quiet person.  Any impression you have from knowing me personally that causes you to believe I am NOT an introvert is a work of the Lord.  He made me to be a quiet and contemplative person, but being a follower of Jesus necessitates loving people and being with them as well.  So over the years that I have walked with Him, He has also formed me into a people person.  So I teach, and counsel women, and work with pre-teens and teens, but because I am an introvert, in order to do so, I have to recharge my batteries, and for me that necessitates some solitude.

So when I read about the abbey, that’s where my heart went, to my need for some solitude and their setting for solitude sounded like something I would love – not as a life style because I don’t believe we’re called to that as Christians – but certainly on the short term, as a battery charging station!

Reading about those monks stirred up a longing – not only for solitude – but for me, what solitude provides – a chance to draw closer to the Lord without any distractions.  

 

What distracts you from your relationship with the Lord?  Lots of things get in the way of mine. 

The lack of solitude.  I live under the same roof with 3 generations of Elwoods, and I love them all dearly.  But, as you can imagine, my life is kind of people intensive.  In order for our situation to work we need to be considerate of others and that means compromise.  We eat together and then we try and maintain our own family space.  When I was younger this kind of constant motion and concern for others would have made me grouchy.  Thank the Lord, that doesn’t happen anymore, but the activity of others under the same roof makes quiet and solitude a challenge - for all of us.

My computer.  The computer has been a joy.  It has taken my teaching preparation to a whole new level of convenience.  No more notes in longhand and lots of time saved!  It has enabled me to write blogs about spiritual things and about Jesus that people all over the world read!  How cool is that? 

It has enabled me to reconnect with people I went to high school with more than 40 years ago!  I can keep in touch with relatives in other parts of the country.  I can communicate with new friends.  I can receive invitations and view photos of events in which I've participated.  I love it for all of those things!

But on the other hand, my computer has also become the bane of my existence, because I find it so hard to exert any self-control over the time I spend on it.  I turn it on when I get up and off when I go to bed and in between I’m continually checking e mail, Facebook,  my blog status and wasting way too much time playing Bookworm.

I’ve told myself I should just check it in the morning and at night and turn it off in between but I don’t do it.  Like the Sirens in the Odessey, it exerts a call I seem not to be able to resist! I’m old enough to be able to look back on my life without my computer and see the difference.  I spend WAY too much time on my computer in empty pursuits. In many ways I’m ashamed to say, it has become an idol.

Just plain spiritual laziness.  There are Christians I know who attribute all of the negative things that impact our lives to the work of Satan.  I don’t mean to downplay that at all.  He is a real enemy who takes delight in derailing us Christians, and worse.  But I can do a pretty good number on myself when I let my human nature lead and not the Spirit.  I don’t do anything “bad” necessarily, but I can certainly not do the things my heart wants and needs to do, like spend time pursuing my relationship with Jesus, and being in prayer.  Anything can get in the way of time with the Lord, even good things – TV news, the gym, breakfast with friends, a spur of the moment suggestion from my granddaughter – even things I hate, like washing the floor, or doing the laundry! 

I read a verse this morning from Psalm 25.  Speaking of the Lord, David says, in verse 12:

“(The Lord) will instruct him in the way chosen for him.”

I can remember the ways in the past when the Lord instructed me in the ways He chose FOR ME. 

As little ones, when my girls  napped, and later after they began school – and I had no computer – the Lord impassioned my heart to draw near to Him.  I might have dust bunnies drifting across the floor and my laundry might not have been done, but it didn’t matter.  It was just the Lord and me, in my bedroom, enjoying one another’s company.

I remember another time in my life when for a long season He called me away to a park where I would read Richard Foster’s book, “Celebration of Discipline”, and follow it up with a sweet time of talking with the Lord as I walked around the lake.

Most recently, when our church was between pastors and there was so much healing that needed to take place in our church, the Lord called me to a season of prayer.  For months, once a week I would go to the church and walk around the sanctuary praying for the man the Lord would call to shepherd us and for the healing of our church body.

A repeat of those times were what I longed for when I read about that abbey and its monks with their vow of silence and their worshipful praise expressed in Gregorian chant.  I long for the solitude that brings me so near to the Lord that I can HEAR Him instruct me in the way He has chosen for me NOW, in this season of my life. 

At this moment, I’m not sure how I will find the solitude I need, but I know I will be thinking and praying about it, and the One who instructs me in the way chosen for ME, will unveil it.

Psalm 25:4-5:

“Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UNEXPECTED WEDDING JOY!

Yesterday we attended the wedding of my granddaughter Emma’s dad.  It was a beautiful day of celebration – and reunion – with so many of his family members we had not seen in many years.  And I was marveling over the fact that we were all there, because nearly 16 years ago, we didn’t know what the future held, but it didn’t look as if that would be it!

At that time, when our daughter Becky was just 16 years old, at a family reunion we were having in Massachusetts, she announced to us all that she was pregnant.  I don’t think any of us will forget that weekend!  We began with excitement, anticipating a weekend of fun, and ended in utter disbelief and shock.

So began a long, emotional stretch of life fraught with conflict – first, over the question of whether or not Emma should be born.  For us, there was no other thought than that Becky would have her child and my husband and I would do all we could to support her.  But not everyone felt that way.  The other family thought the pregnancy should be terminated.

We tried to counsel Becky about whether or not to keep her baby or put the baby up for adoption by raising questions for her to consider, such as:  What if her dad isn’t involved at all?  What if you never get married because a new man may not want to raise another man's child?  What if you can’t finish school? Do you still want to keep your baby?

In the end, Becky did the choosing.  Emma was born, a beautiful, chunky little baby with beautiful dark hair, and she moved into the spare bedroom in our home that had been decorated in Noah’s ark designs.  And we rejoiced.  And Emma’s dad, who had such a hard time accepting that he was a dad, went off to school in the southern part of our state.

Becky wanted him involved in Emma’s life, but she had to fight constantly to get him to see it that way, and we wondered often whether it was worth the effort and stress.  We thought long and hard about how not having a dad involved in her life would affect Emma, and I confess there were times when we thought Emma would be better off without him.  But her dad surprised us all.  After 2 years of living away he came home to finish his schooling at a near-by college because he did want to be involved in Emma’s life. So, Becky finished her last year of high school, started college herself and Emma’s dad got to know his daughter.

The years ahead weren’t easy.  There were so many arguments between Becky and Emma’s dad:  over support - financial, emotional and physical; over important issues they saw so differently (like church involvement or no church involvement); over how a new girlfriend of his could accept or not accept his having a daughter, and the fall out of all that conflict caused pain and stress for Emma and our daughter.

So, when yesterday we were privileged to be guests at his wedding, I couldn’t help but reflect on the last 16 years and thank God that things turned out so well, so unexpectedly well. 

There they were, Emma’s dad and his new bride, a lovely woman, perfect for him and so good to Emma.  Emma, looking right into her dad’s eyes and reading something so beautifully appropriate, which she chose herself in celebration of his marriage, and I marveled over their relationship.

I watched Emma dance with her Mom, take silly photos, play with her nephews and nieces, and just generally have fun, and I was so thankful.

I saw our respective families, all part of that emotionally awful time, enjoying the same wedding celebration – together – and acknowledging the blessing Emma is to us all.  Were they thinking the same things I was thinking?  What if Becky had not kept Emma and the lovely young woman she has grown up to be had not been a part of all our lives?  What a terrible loss that would have been!

I was reading Psalm 25 recently, thinking about verse 3, which says:

“No one whose hope is in You (Lord) will ever be put to shame.”

I think yesterday helped me understand.  Sixteen years ago, out of a conviction that all human life is sacred because each one is made in the image of God, we encouraged Becky to keep her child.  We counseled her with our questions to help her decide whether or not to put her up for adoption, but we strongly felt that we could not encourage her to end the child’s life.  And she agreed.

There were some who thought we were all crazy to encourage a 16 year old in her desire to have and keep her baby, like the first obstetrician we went to who was incredulous that Becky intended to see the pregnancy through.  And classmates of hers.  And some family members. 

As a family, with Becky making her choice and us supporting that choice, we did what we felt was right and welcomed her child into our lives, putting our hope in the Lord for the future – and we have never ONCE been put to shame over it.  Our hope in Him was blessed by Him. 

We have always been so proud of Becky for making her choice.  And we have been abundantly blessed, not only because we have Emma, and she is a HUGE blessing indeed – but also because of what we observed yesterday.  Joy.  The joy of a young man who reluctantly at first embraced the result of some choices of his own – and who now has a relationship with his lovely daughter he would not have had otherwise.

And the joy of two families celebrating a wedding – and a much loved daughter and granddaughter’s part in bringing two families together.

And I see the hand of God in it all. 

 

 

 

THE LORD, OUR STRONGHOLD - Ps. 18:1-3

Webster’s defines the word “enemy” in this way:

·        A person who hates another and tries to injure him

·        Anything hostile or injurious

Maybe you have no enemies in the traditional sense. There is no one you can point to and say “he or she hates me and is always trying to hurt me”. 

But what about the other aspect of Webster’s definition?  Is there anything hostile or injurious in your life that could do you real harm – like an illness, or anxiety, or depression, a hostile work environment, an abusive marriage, or any of a number of other things?

Sometimes when we are faced by an enemy there is an obvious way out – we can leave the job and find another, we can go for counseling and hope to save the abusive marriage, we can see a doctor and hope medication will help.  But what about when there is no circumstantial way out? 

David, who would one day be the King of Israel as God had promised, knew what it was like to flee from an enemy seeking to harm him.  His enemy was the current king, King Saul, who out of jealousy, kept David on the run for about 18 years, while trying to kill him.  The psalms of David written during this time reflect the fear, anxiety, depression, impatience, loss, doubt and sense of uncertainty and insecurity David felt while he ran.  You can “hear” the emotion in his words.  And yet, in the same psalms in which he expresses his negative emotions, he often also expresses hope in the LORD, who had promised him that he would one day replace Saul on the throne of Israel.

It was to the psalms that I turned this past week when our family found itself “pursued” by the enemy of fear, anxiety, doubt and uncertainty. 

If you read the blog I wrote last week you may be wondering about the outcome of the medical situation I mentioned regarding my 15 year old granddaughter, Emma.

When I wrote, we were waiting for a call from the doctor’s office to set up an appointment to follow up on a lump we discovered on her chest.  The pediatrician, the first doctor to see her, didn’t say what concerned him, but we were later to find out that he suspected it could be lymphoma, which is cancer of the lymphatic system.  He wanted her to be seen by a hematologist before the week was out and that was the call we were expecting.  They called last Tuesday and set up an appointment for Wednesday morning.

I was disappointed to discover that morning that Emma didn’t want anyone but her mom going with her.  I really wanted to go, but since I couldn’t go along, I decided that the BEST thing I could do was pray, and so for several hours that morning I prayed my way through the Psalms, praying God’s Word specifically for my daughter and Emma. 

I began with Psalm 18.  My Bible says this about Psalm 18:  “David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.”

What a perfect place to begin my prayer that morning when we were battling some “enemies” of our own!  The way David described the Lord held such comfort, encouragement, and hope for me throughout that long day of waiting. 

v. 1  “I love you LORD, my strength”

If there was anything we needed that day, it was strength:

·        strength to look to the Lord and not allow the “what ifs” to distract us

·        strength to choose peace over anxiety, strength for the sake of others – to help them stay calm

·        strength to face whatever the day might hold

·        strength to endure the waiting

Physical strength for bodies easily prone to stomach upset when stressed. 

Emotional strength for emotions easily driven by fear and doubt. 

Spiritual strength for keeping mind and heart on the Lord and not on the circumstances.

David’s words affirmed the truth that the Lord just doesn’t GIVE strength, He IS the source of strength.  He Himself is my strength thanks to the personal relationship I have with Him through the work of His Son Jesus. 

I also took strength from Him knowing that both the Son and the Spirit were interceding with the Father for Emma’s sake.  And Jesus, by virtue of His finished work on the cross, is HEARD!

And the LORD is not just a source of strength for everyone out there – although those who turn to Him in faith have access to His strength as well.  His provision of strength is PERSONAL - He is MY strength – personal, intimate.  He knows me well enough to know and supply all the strength I will ever need.  His strength is IN HIMSELF. 

For this and so much more, I truly love Him, as did David.

v. 2 The LORD is:  my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.  My God is: my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield, the horn of my salvation; my stronghold.

In our culture here in the US, fortresses and strongholds are not familiar pictures. As I read these strong words used to describe the Lord, I tried to think of what they might look like to us. 

In the 2^nd movie of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy - The Two Towers, the people of Rohan flee to the fortress of Helm’s Deep in order to shield themselves from the attack of the armies of Mordor. 

Helm’s Deep is a fortress.  Made of stone and set into the side of a mountain, it is formidable, encompassing several stories in height.  The walls are wide enough to accommodate many men wielding bows and arrows in defense.  Its entryway is sealed with secure, heavy wooden gates.  Completely protected on three sides by the mountain into which it is built, enemy armies can only attack on one side, making it easier to defend.  Underneath are caves filled with food and water supplies and shelter for women and children to retreat to for safety.  The people of Rohan had fled there many times for safety, believing the fortress to be impenetrable, and indeed it had been in times past, but not this time. 

In the end, the armies of Mordor mounted an insurmountable assault and the citadel was breached.  With the enemy army swarming throughout, rescue finally came at the 11^th hour when the horsemen of Rohan led by Gandalf arrive, to route the armies of Mordor.

When I read that the LORD is MY ROCK, MY FORTRESS, MY REFUGE, AND MY STRONGHOLD, it’s a citadel like that of Helm’s Deep that comes to mind.

The difference is that unlike Helm’s Deep, nothing can breach God as Stronghold.  Nothing touches His children unless He permits it to enter.  The LORD is able to keep us safe in Himself for He truly IS a stronghold that is impenetrable, secure, and strong.

And He is MY SHIELD – my full body armor – protecting body, mind, heart, and spirit from the enemies of disease, fear, doubt, anxiety, and the unknown.  Nothing can touch me unless it first passes through the hands of His permissive will.

Verse 3 says: “I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.”

How faithful the Lord was to save us from our enemies this last week. 

Throughout that day my daughter Becky remained strong and calm for Emma’s sake.  In the past, Becky often had difficulty controlling her own emotions, but this week she was mindful of wanting to stay calm and in control in order to help Emma to do so.

And Emma, who just the night before was having difficulty remaining calm and said she would refuse the testing, and who was terrified as well, endured all the testing calmly.

The result of her visit to the hematologist was that the doctor was 98% sure it was not lymphoma, or anything “bad”.   Tomorrow she has to visit a surgeon to talk about removing it.

How thankful I was to the Lord, Who is our rock, fortress, stronghold, strength and deliverer – and Who upheld us and met us where we were.  For that He deserves all our praise.

Psalm 18:1 “I love you, O LORD, my strength.”

 PS  Emma is scheduled for surgery on Thursday, Aug. 8 to remove the "thing" on her chest.  We'd appreciate your prayers!