You know, one of the things that I have witnessed over the last few months is God’s wondrous deeds. Back in August, I was diagnosed with stage-4 pancreatic cancer. That wasn’t something I had expected—it never occurred to me that I might have cancer. When I think back on that conversation with my doctor, I don’t recall feeling any fear or shock. I just listened and said ok. The next couple of weeks were kind of a blur, maybe because the physical pain I was coping with outweighed the reality that I was really sick. I have a cancer that kills a lot of people. It might kill me too, I don’t know. But what I do know is my great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, has been orchestrating everything in my life and the lives of our family. Absolutely everything, revealing Himself to Rick and me, to our kids. And it’s my privilege to honor God by giving Him the praise He is due for it is His wondrous deeds we are experiencing…
The day of my diagnosis, my entire family was at our house. This hasn’t happened in several years. That very day, it did. So, we cried together. We prayed together. We cried some more. We tried to absorb this news. By God’s hand, Rick and I received immediate love and support. God’s wondrous deed.
Our daughter and son-in-law came to visit us for 2 weeks while they were home from their missionary work in Niger…and then it became impossible for them to go back because of a military coup. Niger’s borders were closed. No flights in, no flights out. They needed a place to live…they stayed with us. My daughter is a nurse…my son-in-law is a doctor. Three days after they arrived at our house, I found out I had cancer…through the action of rebels in a distant land, I had my own healthcare team living with me. God’s wondrous deed.
Rick’s retirement from Jones and my diagnosis happened almost simultaneously. I can’t begin to tell you how important and supportive it has been to have Rick at my side practically every moment of the day. God’s wondrous deed.
So many volunteers helping at Feed Your Soul…you can’t believe how many people have been coming through those doors to help…new teams that want to help pack meals next year…new bakers who are making cookies…a couple kids who decided to come help every week. God’s wondrous deed.
We are recipients of the power of God in His answering of prayers. He’s healing me through medical treatments and through the persistent, faithful prayers being offered up for me all around the world. I’m humbled. I don’t know a lot of people who have had pancreatic cancer, but I feel extraordinarily blessed to feel absolutely normal nearly all the time. God’s wondrous deed.
There’s more to tell, but you see the miracles, don’t you? So often in the biblical history of Israel, we can read about how God worked wondrous deeds. God parting the Red Sea comes to mind. The Lord physically parted a body of water and created a dry pathway through that body of water so that the Israelites could flee through this body of water on dry ground and escape from the Egyptians. Read about it in Exodus 14. That is but a single example. But even more wondrous is that this Lord, this kind and merciful God, is present in lives of believers. The Holy Spirit lives within the hearts of believers, guiding and leading us. You can experience the wonder of the Lord yourself if you’ll receive His gift of life.
If you need prayer or a Bible, let me know.