Luckiest unlucky people........(Scott and Eliz)

A few weeks ago we bumped into a doctor who had been very involved in the care of my wife in 2005 and 2009.  He encouraged us to stop by the ICU and see the new facility. We did that today. Unfortunately he was not in, but the same cast of characters who took care of my girl in 2005 and 2009 were there. It was a great reunion of sorts and quite unbelievable that they were all on for the same shift. God used these people in a great way as he preformed miracle after miracle on Elizabeth.

As we chatted, one of the nurses who happens to know friends of ours is quite familiar with our stories including Elizabeth's health woes, our bad accident in 2010 and my cancer. She called us the luckiest unlucky people she knows......while it's been easy to look at the downside of things and how these things have impacted all aspects of our lives, the later part of 2012 has been about having a better perspective. It's been about trying to see the good in things as opposed to drowning in the bad. It's been about trying to remember to rejoice in what God has allowed and carried us through as opposed to sinking in the quick sand of despair. It's been about increasing our faith. It's been about our overall well being and taking the required steps to improve it.
 

Today I also had my check-up before having chemo tomorrow. Since my specialist was off sick, I had another fill in specialist today. This would be the 3rd specialist that has seen me. Their message is consistent in that the results of the therapy could not be better. I am thankful also that my blood work tested normal today and that all my vitals appear healthy.

So we will do the chemo thing tomorrow. As 2012 closes we are thankful for some painful learning's, and pray that God will use them to grow us into the people he wants us to be. We only have to look into the mirror to know that his work is far from done. We are also thankful for our health, that Elizabeth has been stable for almost 2 years and that our kids have not had to see me sick during my treatments. That is truly something to rejoice in.....I remember all to well what it was like to watch dad suffer with cancer. We prayed a lot that our kids would be spared that at this point.
We will welcome 2013 and hope that it is a year of rest, but knowing full well that God will provide for us no matter what he has in store for us.

Elizabeth and I continue to look to him, praying that we would be good stewards of what he has given us and thankful for his never ending grace, mercy and patience.

I Surrender - Hillsong Live

Who Am I - Casting Crowns

Open the Eyes of My Heart

 

How did I get here?

How did this become my new normal? How did I get here? I didn't ask for this?

Have you ever asked yourself these questions?

Have you ever felt like you we're all of a sudden thrust into an experience that you know is real, yet it seems so dream like too? In some cases it may seem like a nightmare.

I will go for another chemo treatment this week and even though it has been a year now since my diagnosis, it still does not seem real. It still sometimes feels like the fog will lift and all will be normal. It is real though, when I go to the cancer clinic and see young and old with their varying types of cancer, some like me are not visibly ill and others are very sick, then the realness sets in. My heart aches for those experiencing health woes and even more for those who have not put their faith in Christ.

None of us know our future, none of us know what's in store, none of us can control uncertainty so we strive to live in the present making the most out of today. It's no easy task!

We strive to leave what we can't control in the hands of the one who has control.

It's the only way. Gods got our back!

Hebrews 13:5b

New International Version (NIV)

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Psalm 112:8

New International Version (NIV)

Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.

 

jesus culture you love never falls

 

Carrie Underwood - I'll Stand By You

 

Building 429 - Fearless

 

Building 429 - You Carried Me

what will be said...

When we think of our legacy, what do we hope it will be? Do we want people to say he or she was a good employee, mother, father, person and friend.

What do we want people to say about us? What do we want our legacy to be?

I hope mine is something like this:

He was a great employee, husband, father, person, freind. He was sensitive, sincere, genuine, funny when appropriate and serious when required. He was dedicated in all aspects of life. He could be counted on. He was a servant who strove to be his best, to know what he believed. He loved his family, but most of all he loved his saviour. He was a man of principle, he stood for what he believed in.

Pretty loft goals eh? How on earth can any person achieve their goals. I belive that it is only through the grace and power of God that we can achieve our goals. When we are at our least, he is at his greatest.

So what am I doing today, to leave a lasting legacy that is God honouring, what are you doing?

Philippians 2 details how we should live

why why why r such sensless crimes taking place..

What is happening to our world? Why is crime, sickness, greed, death, robbery, killing everywhere? Why does it seem like every day there is something bad on the news?

Sin is a terrible and destructive desease and it acts in subtle ways and in very horrific ways like 911 or the recent and horrific shootings in the US.

Satan is having quite a heyday, peace will only be found in Christ.

The world won't address it's issues with bandage solutions when the root issue is sin and the only defence is through a God many of us reject.

Mourning a sudden and tragic loss....

On Friday night a young girl in our community passed away due to a tragic car accident. She was only 17.
As I think back over my lifetime I can think of several people in our church and local community who have been robbed of life, who have passed far, far too young.

Its extremely tragic. My experience has been that the community will wrap its arms around this family and they will experience God's love through many people.

What happens though in the months and years after......it's tough, tough going to pick up the pieces. It's lonely, frustrating and painful. There are books on mourning and dealing with loss and there are people to assist, but by and large we all have to journey these things on our own. We are uniquely made and so we experience these things uniquely as well. No one person other than our maker can understand how we experience something such as death.

We trudge on learning as we go.

Still I cant help but think that we could do much better at supporting people through such things as the loss of a loved one. It is final, it is tragic and nothing compares to it. A life is not replaceable. I can't help but think that because life is so special, so cherished that we should mourn a loss accordingly. This is life after all, what do we have without it? Each life is so precious.

So as we all experience people in our lives who have lost someone, what are we doing to show our support and love? How are we bearing each others burdens, not only in the days after, but in the years after? When the most precious thing there is, is taken (life), what is our response? Does life as we know it just go on? Or are people what are most important to us, and as such, do we show compassion accordingly?

Galatians 6:2

New International Version (NIV)

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

 

Below links are to Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapmans recount of how his family dealt with his daughters passing:

 

Steven Curtis Chapman on Larry King

(Part 2) Steven Curtis Chapman on Larry King

(Part 3) Steven Curtis Chapman on Larry King

(Part 4) Steven Curtis Chapman on Larry King

 

Tribute to Maria Chapman

Grace does not give us a license to knowingly sin...

Grace does not give us a license to knowingly sin. Grace is simply what is provided to us because God knows we will sin.
Grace is what gives us a 2nd chance, like it did Adam and Eve when they blew it, like when Noah was spared, like when we were provided with the greatest sacrifice of all. This sacrifice was for our sins, because we could not keep the law, God by grace made a way through the provision of his son as a sacrifice for our sins. Grace is a gift, not to be abused. God gives us opportunity after opportunity to choose him, that is Grace, but if we continue to choose our own way like Judas, God may let us have our own way.
King David committed terrible sins, by choice he allowed himself to be in a position to be tempted while all other men were away fighting. By God's grace he was spared, but he paid a terrible price. Sin always comes with a price. Grace simply offers a 2nd chance, it does not wash away the consequence of sin.
Many feel that grace came into play in the new Testament, however it is all over the Old testament. Some believe that God did not punish sin in the New testament and that Grace was always offered, however the story of Ananias and Sapphira disproves that theory. It suggests that there can be a steep price for sin.

Read Acts 5:1-11
Acts 5:1-11 NIV

Ananias and Sapphira: A Lesson in Grace

In my life I know without doubt that I pay a price for disobeying God, for not listening to that still small voice. One poor choice after another leads me further from God and all of a sudden I may find myself in a position where God allows something into my life to jolt me back to him. That is my experience.

Book Review: The Grace of God by Andy Stanley

is grace just a Christians credit card??

Is grace just a Christians credit card? Is our salvation just life insurance? If God predestined us, what's the point?

What's the point in being obedient, in trying to live an all out surrendered life for the one who gave his all for me?

Predestined, chosen:
Ephesians 1:4-11 Predestination

Who is salvation for:
God wants all people to be saved:
1 Timothy 2:4-6
Romans 1:16

Based on the above verses, it would seem that salvation is for all who choose it, we are all chosen, but will we choose Jesus in return? Its our freedom of choice.

Should we keep on sinning?
Romans 6:1-3 (The Message)

Romans 6:1-3 would suggest that we should choose not to continue in sin, in the sin we are saved from. Rather we should desire to be pure and holy as Christ was and as we read in Philippians 2:1-5.
Psalm 119:1 reads:

Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. New International Version (NIV)

 

What is grace?;

Grace was extended to people from the beginning of time, when Adam and Eve sinned, with Noah and the ark, with Joseph and his brothers and on and on the story's go of mans rejection of God's initial plan and God's provision of a second plan. "Grace"!! Grace and mercy were all part of the provision of salvation that we as Christians have experienced Ephesians 2:8. Grace is what sees us through the valley's in life 2 Corinthians 12:9.

 

So is grace just to be used as a Christians credit card? The above verses would suggest that it is not, that we should strive to be blameless.

 

James 2:14-26 Faith and deeds

 

Your Love Never Fails -Chris Quilala / Jesus Culture

 

Building 429 - You Carried Me (w/ Web Text) (Video)

Came to my Rescue - Hillsong United