Archive for January 2010
One of the most unusual of my fifty-eight birthdays
· I never thought I would ever find talking too tiring
· Otter pops are my favorite thing in the world right now
· Incredibly grateful that I can talk to my family in the UK via the amazing facilities of Skype. It really makes them feel not so far away.
· The most predictable part of every day is how much I look forward to getting into bed after treatment.
· How grateful I am for the prayers of so many of my friends all over the world; people who I’ve known for years, and people I’ve met just recently
· Thank you to Kathy and Mary Lu for the peace of a Reike treatment.
· How amazing God is that even when I fear that I’m not going to be able to make it through a Sunday, He always comes through. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
· Maggie’s perspective; I admit, I worried Jonathan was biting off too much when he went to preach on this last Sunday, but I forgot that God has this. He is more than able to speak through Jonathan even when Jonathan is not at full steam. And speak He did!
· Last week as I sat next to Jonathan during his treatment, we were listening to the song “Befriended”. The chorus goes, This will be my story, this will be my song. You’ll always be my savior. You will always have my heart. As I thought about those words it occurred to me that ‘this’, what we’re going through right now, becomes part of my/our story. God is , even now, weaving these darker colored patches into a beautiful whole story that sings of our great God. And our story is part of God’s BIG story that He invites us to be part of. The song goes on to say, Determined, determined now to live this life for you… And that’s how I feel. I am determined to live so that ‘this’ part of my story does testify of His goodness.
· Finally, one thing that has been kinda difficult for me, unexpectedly so, is not being able to make Jonathan food he wants to eat. He either doesn’t have any appetite or things he normally likes taste bad to him. I realize that when I love someone and want to make them feel better, I prepare them yummy/ healthy things to eat. Not being able to do that, especially when Jonathan feels so awful, has been tough.
My first experience of depression and fatigue and I do not like it never thought I would have to take anti depressants!
- The realization dawned that this is the first week in January and some form of treatments stretch ahead for a year. Seems like a mountain to climb!
- How grateful I am that God has given me such good health for the first 57 years of my life
- Strange to receive a call from a doctor at 2:30 am asking that we visit the emergency because of a strange reading of my potassium level in a blood test the day before. Thank you God everything was ok just a hemolysed reading (Never thought I would use that word in a blog!!)
- How good it was to laugh really hard with friends on Thursday evening
- The 21 day fast is confused by the fact that nothing tastes the way it should to me and so I don’t really want to eat anything
- Not a good idea to park on the street outside Kaiser South San Francisco. My step-daughter was kind enough to drive to my treatment on Thursday and some body totaled her car while it was parked!
What a blessing to have leisurely conversations with friends who are good enough to sit with me during treatment
One more blog post that caught my attention was from Shannon Cunningham. Towards the end of last year she wrote a very insightful post entitled, “ Bloom Where you are Planted”. I was challenged by her reminder of how easy it is to look at what is happening to others and to wish that were me. Unfortunately there were more occurrences of that type of thing in my life than I like to remember. The most powerful of all was when I was looking for a church where to begin my time in the pastorate. I applied all over the place and came pretty close to a job on a number of occasions. On more that one occasion I wondered why the successful applicant got the job rather than me! And then I was introduced to little Pacifica Christian Church, not apparently looking for a pastor but needing someone to preach. OK I could do that but since they only had about 15 in attendance it would not be a place I could stay!! But God had other Ideas and within a couple of month I accepted the call to be their pastor. Yes God planted me here in Pacifica! I was a little reluctant to take root but I am so glad I did. God has blessed me beyond what I could have imagined in this beautiful little coast-side town. I used to joke that I was God’s most unfruitful plant as we experienced so little growth at first. But He found ways over and over again to reassure me that He had planted me and that was all that mattered. The last few years have been amazing as we have seen New Life Christian Fellowship birthed in the heart of God and begin to grow. Thank you Shannon for reminding me of the importance of blooming where God plants us. We are so looking forward to having you, Drew and little Carsyn blossoming with us!
Random thoughts from Interferon Week 1
- I don’t like flu now any more than the last time I had it even if it’s only for a few hours each day!
- How amazing it is to be given my infusion each day by Nurse Heide who makes a point of praying for all her patients
- It really was rather scary to get the shakes so bad that I could not speak on Tuesday.
- How grateful I am for the advice of a doctor friend about the advisability of some of the medication given me and for Kaiser staff who were willing to reconsider and make changes.
- What a humbling gift it is have so many people caring and praying both here and in different parts of the world.
- What a wonderful place my bed is when I don’t feel good.
- The incredible joy of having our whole family with us over these first days and of course the special joy of spending time with our adorable grandson Atticus, it really made the week.
- My gratitude beyond words for Maggie my amazing wife who is just always there and seems to know just what to do and say!
- How hard it was to say goodbye to our precious dog Odie just before treatment began, but even in that I can see the wisdom of God’s timing
- It’s great to be able to talk to my family in the UK, face to face, using Skype
- God answering my prayer and giving me the hours in the morning and early afternoon when I have reduced symptoms so I can prepare to preach on Sunday
Overall I am glad to have the first week, albeit a short one, under my belt. Our God continues to be so faithful and every place I go, every turn in the road, expected or unexpected, there is a sense He has been there before to prepare the way. Maybe I will have some more random musings after week 2, we shall see, but thank you so much, everyone of you, for your prayers, kindness and words of encouragement. They mean more than you will ever know. |
It’s done! It took me just about 120 days because I slowed up at the end, but I finished as I read the final chapters of Revelation in the early morning of the first day of 2010. It sure has been an adventure and I have learned so much. I saw the reality of “The Big Story of God” in ways I never have before, its unity, its uniqueness and the unfolding revelation of the nature of God.
A few days ago I said I wanted to draw your attention to some blog posts from members of the New Life Family that had caught my attention. Well undoubtedly New Life’s most prolific and gifted blogger is Andy Lie. If you have followed his daily posts through the Ninety Day Bible, I know you have been blessed. But the post that caught my eye was the one he wrote entitled, “Ninety Days, Afterward”. In it he quotes Mark Batterson’s new book Primal as it refers to the amazing promises of God on the pages of scripture just waiting to be claimed.
As I read this, my mind turned to what, for me, was one of the most powerful themes to come from the 90 Day Bible; God’s overwhelming desire to be present with his people. I remembered the excitement I felt when I saw the repeated promises. First that He would be with the people of Israel. Then, at the ascension, Jesus’ promise He would be with us always. And finally those glorious verses in Revelation 21 that I read again this morning!
Rev. 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev. 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Rev. 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Over the past few weeks I have needed to remind myself of the promises of God’s presence repeatedly and I know that even when my trust wavers He never mov
From the Zebra Bag 