Sabbath Songs

Take Heart My Friend by Fernando Ortega

Take heart, my friend, we'll go together
This uncertain road that lies ahead
Our faithful God has always gone before
And He will lead the way once again

Take heart, my friend, we can walk together
And if our burdens become too great
We can hold up and help one another
In God's love, in God's grace

Take heart my friend, the Lord is with us
As He has been all the days of our lives
Our assurance every morning
Our defender in the night

If we should falter when trouble surrounds us
When the wind and the waves are wild and high
We will look away to Him who rules the waters;
Who speaks His peace into the angry tide

He is our comfort, our sustainer
He is our help in time of need
When we wander, He is our Shepherd
He who watches over us never sleeps

Take heart my friend, the Lord is with us
As He has been all the days of our lives
Our assurance every morning
Our defender every night

Take heart my friend, the Lord is with us
As He has been all the days of our lives
Our assurance every morning
Our defender in the night.

Clinging to grace

This morning I awoke thinking of the courageous women that fight this disease of breast cancer.

I thought of my friend Paula, who died 20 years ago, leaving two small boys and a loving husband behind.  The summer she died, Dave was fighting his battle against stage 4 metastatic melanoma.  She told me of her greatest experience of God's grace: that she was ready to say good-bye to her children.  "I know it is a hard place to be in," she said, "But where would we rather be than in the center of God's will for us?"

I prayed for Natasha, who has been living with metastatic disease for years, surviving to see her daughter grow. And she gets through every day-- some painful, some excruciatingly joyful-- by and with grace.

And I prayed and cried for L.B., a sweet cyber-friend who has just had to announce to all the people who love her that her cancer is back, and with a wicked vengeance.  "Jesus is the real deal," she says as she explains the extent of both her disease and the grace of God.

So this morning, I am clinging to grace, and trusting that the amount of grace God will provide to me will increase as my need for it does. He is able and willing.  He is Good.  And I am His.

"A" day in the life...

Today I began waking early as I tossed and turned in bed: I was not just hot, but burning up, followed quickly by not just cold but freezing, followed by general uncomfortableness..  By 6 a.m. I was in my comfy chair, with heating pads in place and a cup of tea beside me.  After resting and praying, I turned on the light long enough to have my quiet reading time. I read Psalm 87:

On the holy mount stands the city he founded;
   the Lord loves the gates of Zion
    more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. 
  Glorious things of you are spoken,
    O city of God. Selah (vs. 1-3)

 And I read Spurgeon as he commented on 1 Samuel 13:20:

Most of our tools want sharpening; we need quickness of perception, tact, energy, promptness, in a word, complete adaptation for the Lord's work. Practical common sense is a very scarce thing among the conductors of Christian enterprises. We might learn from our enemies if we would, and so make the Philistines sharpen our weapons. This morning let us note enough to sharpen our zeal during this day by the aid of the Holy Spirit.

And from Richard Baxter's Directions for a Peaceful Death, I read:

Direction XVII. If it may be, get some able, faithful guide and comforter to be with you in your sickness, to counsel you, and resolve your doubts, and pray with you, and discourse of heavenly things, when you are disabled by weakness for such exercises yourselves. Let not carnal persons disturb you with their vain babblings. Though the difference between good company and bad, be very great in the time of health, yet now in sickness it will be more discernible. And though a faithful friend and spiritual pastor be always a great mercy, yet now especially in your last necessity. Therefore make use of them as far as your pain and weakness will permit.

Then, I called my faithful husband, asked him to pray with me, and turned off my light and dozed again as I prayed for a view of God's city and for the discipline and wisdom to sharpen my God-given weapons against the day.

Then the attacks of Satan began: I ran into annoyance with the dear folks I live with-- jut annoyance, not problems, and no one's sin but my own.  And I began getting a migraine headache (that kind of headache a doctor assured me 20 years ago would leave me once I entered menopause, and the absence of which I had been counting as a side-benefit of medical menopause.)  I have now had a string of three migraines this week, and it feels like insult to injury somehow.  And then it was time to do what I have been dreading: start my new normonal treatment for fighting breast cancer: Arimidex.

Arimidex is a fairly "safe" cancer drug, really.  But I am sobered by reading the list of side effects, and have had an almost irrational fear of starting this drug. But after talking to a new oncologist this week, I am further convinced of its necessity.  So, today is "A" day- the day I started Arimidex. So far, so good.  My prayer is that it does the job of keeping this weary body from creating new breast cancers.

Thanks for your continued prayers, Gentle Readers.  Each day is better, but still a battle in some ways. Fatigue and lack of hormones take their emotional toll. And in the next week I need to decide how much teaching activity to pick up this spring, and how much to let go until next fall.  I want to follow the Lord's leading in that decision, and would appreciate your prayers for it!

Wednesday without words

Meeting Ada

 One of the highlights of a lovely (if exhausting for me) weekend was meeting our granddaughter Adeline bell for the first time.  She looks much like her daddy did at this age, and is a sweet little bundle of more than 10 lbs at 6 weeks.

 Nikki, Tim and Emma joined us on Saturday, and we had quite a time of it. The cousins met for the first time.  Emma was gentle and very interested-- maybe too interested-- so we had to protect Ada just a little! (Ada's not quite ready to share the book or the ratttle yet!)

 While the travel, extra activity, and even baby-holding was pretty tiring for me, it was a treat to be with Ada and Elsa and Ben!

Wednesday without words

Lenten devotional

Looking for a way to help prepare your children to understand the meaning of Resurrection Day like you did during Advent for Christmas? Look no further.  My friend, Amy, has a lovely family devotional guide ready for use during the traditional period of Lent (starting on Wednesday.)  She gives interesting background on the various thoughts of church fathers about incorporating an idea of lent and fasting into our preparation for Easter, and then has a very accessible guide that can be used with children of all ages.  And it is just a $2.99 download from the Kindle store, making it affordable and easily accessible.  (It is also available as a paperback.) Give it a look.

And if that's not good enough, she's doing a drawing for a free download if you visit the book's blog TODAY and post a comment. What a deal!

May the Lord use Amy's words and heart for reaching children for Christ to bless many through this new endeavor!