four months.

Four months later. That’s around 120 days. Lives have changed.

Four months ago today I was on my way to the Woodward Academy tournament when I received a phone call I never expected I’d get. My dad was diagnosed with cancer. Not any type of cancer. One that was pretty severe and had only a 66 percent survival rate.
But God is my helper.The Lord keeps me alive!
Psalm 54:4

Four months ago today I saw a part of my life possibly leave me. Today I recognized the power of hope. the power of God. the power of healing.
“If only you would prepare your heart and lift up your hands to him in prayer! You will forget your misery; it will be like water flowing away. Your life will be brighter than the noonday. Even darkness will be as bright as morning. Having hope will give you courage. You will be protected and will rest in safety.
Job 11:13, 16-18

Four months ago today the tests truly began. I knew that I would be tested – wouldn’t know how, but knew it was inevitable. Today I feel like i’ve conquered most of the battles and know how to conquer the rest ahead.
For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:36-39

Four months ago today my heart broke. It was broken for the ones I loved the most. Today my heart is whole. My heart is ready for the next four months.

Filed under: daily blogging, cancer, dad, God, healing, power, time, verses

feel the heal

i have to remind myself the name of the blog… teach me. this time in my life is a vital time for learning. my body yearns to be taught, but sometimes i feel i’m avoiding the teaching. i think the avoiding is just a part of being human.

my dad isn’t doing that great – today was pretty bad actually. he spent a lot of the day just hacking. every time he’d intake something, it’d make it’s way back up. he’s dry heaving more than usual.

his spirits are down. which doesn’t help. i pray he starts to feels the healing You are doing in his throat and body. i pray that he starts to feel strong. remind him though he may be weak, you are always strong.

For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection.
1 Corinthians 13:8-9

Filed under: daily blogging, cancer, dad, healing, learning, prayer, teaching, verses

love is a victory march

Yes, again with Kina. I think I may like it better than Phil Wickham’s version. This post is getting back to the roots of my blog.

Tomorrow is the last day of radiation. Hallelujah!

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.
2 Corinthians 4:7-10

our love is a victory march

Filed under: daily blogging, cancer, music, radiation, verses, victory

seeker. student. servant.

Three things we should be. North Metro’s got it right!

Seeker
Jesus set the perfect example for us to be a seeker. He came and sought and saved the lost.
As a seeker we:
1) Seek God! Recognize God Seeks us!
2) Seek Authentic Personal Relationships! Seek the person to help make you always Seek God.
3) Seek the Lost! So that they can seek God!

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
Acts 19:10

Student

Jesus is our teacher.  He seeks us. Why? To help us learn. As a student, we learn, hear, apply THE TRUTH. We practice the spiritual disciplines. We participate in significant relationships. We are active in personal ministry.

This is for you.

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
1 Peter 3:9

Sometimes callings can get manipulated… sometimes we don’t fully hear our calling. But 1 thing is true about all of our callings. We are called to seek. We are called be students. We can use these times and repay the status quo with our spiritual discipline. We can pray for what is going on. Remember your personal ministry is HIS ministry. Pray for HIS ministry to best be served in this time.

Servant.
Jesus came to serve, not be served. Jesus set an example for us in everything He did. He calls us to surrender ourselves fully to Him, and to allow Him to live through us. Jesus, “made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross.”

I love this next part. As a servant, you must give and live sacrificially. This may mean sacrificing something you’ve been holding onto. You must serve with pure motives. Pure motives sometime require you to sacrifice something.

Filed under: daily blogging, learning, north metro, seeking, serving, verses

jehovah shammah

the LORD is there.  It’s been a while [[during the break, i hope to share with you some times i had this semester in a form of backtracking posts]].  But i thought this name for God was soo appropriate. During the month hiatus from the blog, the Lord is/was there.  He was everywhere.  He showed up whether it was in line at Mcdonalds trying to win Monopoly, or on my way to work stuck in 120 traffic… He is there!

School, work, life, relationships all clouded a part of my vision from October to December, but one thing remained— God.  He is there!  He is there in my school. He is there in my work.  He is there in my life. He is there in my relationships. He is there.

In 1 Samuel, Hannah exclaims:

“There is no one holy like the LORD;  there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”
1 Samuel 2:2

No one compares… No one can even match His work. He is there. Jeremy Camp [which I'm not a big fan of his] released a new CD this past month… I think in early December. One song, “You will be there” shows how dependable God was.

When I wake, you will be there.
When the sun goes down in the night, you wil be there.

So, why do I bring this up? Early December— finals came… I was not ready for one class. God was there. He provided. He was my rock.  Although I didn’t get the grade I desired, God is there in this whole thing.

Filed under: daily blogging, music, names of god, verses