Hodgkin's

I have received several calls and notes this week regarding a precious young girl, who goes to the same high school that one of my daughters went to, whose family lives close and who had been diagnosed with Hodgkins' lymphoma. And I was being contacted because our family, seven years ago, too was catapulted into the journey of Hodgkin's, and I wrote a book "Sweet Sixteen with Hodgkin's" that traced many of our answered prayers and God's footprints at our every turn.   

My daughter, Molly, was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin's when she was sixteen and in high school. She is now approaching 23, in great health, and is comfortably able to embrace her journey by helping others who are walking in this unknown territory.There is just something reassuring about hearing a first hand account of someone who has embarked on a similar journey and has made it to the other side of it successfully. It not only helps you with a roadmap to get through some of the unexpected, unprojected declarations of directions and needs but also saddles you with a hope to ride on. 

So many of you too have experienced really tough times. It maybe was a health issue, a financial issue, a relationship issue, a job issue, an addiction issue etc. but whatever it was you know how tough a battle can be. Emotions are feathered and the unknowns bring about fear, and when you at at the beginning, it is hard to imagine the end.  None of us know how God will generate his plan and for what reasons. We can only prayerfully engage in faithful dependence on Christ, trust in his provisions and embrace his sovereignty.

We have heard it said that "We are blessed to be a blessing". The theme originated when God was speaking to Abraham and told him in Genesis 12: "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you."I will make you into a great nation  and I will bless you; I will make your name great  and you will be a blessing.I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."  God blessed Abraham so that he in turn could be a blessing to others.  We too have been given that same responsibility with the blessings that God has given us.  

We have been given tools of survival through our faith that we have used to fight battles, tough battles, that God has allowed to come before us. Tools of strength, wisdom  discernment and truth that come only from the Holy Spirit. We read it in his word, hear it from dedicated teachers, and see it practiced in the lives of faithful believers.   And when a crisis hits our neighbor, it is our turn to pass along the blessings that have been given to us to those who need it now.  We, in our struggles have been lifted up and supported through prayerful warriors who have stood beside us, and who faithfully believe in God's ways and his sovereignty. It is now our call to pass it along to some else who is now in a war zone.    

I, nor Molly, or our whole family will ever forget the blessing of support that we received when we needed it most.  We were and still are grateful beyond words, but through that experience, I also know that we are not to horde the blessings of the things learned that can comfort others,  give them a hope, and reason to stand firm on a promise that God is faithful and and that through his grace and mercy he will give us those tools we need to forge ahead as we trust Him.   We all will have a few battle scars, but when we have an opportunity to stand beside someone whose is emerging on a unknown battlefield and help settle some of the fears and arm them with prayer and quiet support, we find those scars have not been in vain. 

We get thought the battles by taking just one step at a time and trusting that God has surely gone before us and paved our way for healing. It is not about the whole picture, that is God's territory,  but our fight is in our individual battles, and our successes are measured by our dependence on God in our step by step advance. Our peace comes from that dependence, and that trust.  I know you have heard it said that when fear knocks let faith open the door. We all are faced with fears at one time or another, and they can pull us down to our knees, oh but isn't that just where God wants us to te.          

It is God who faithfully gives all of us as much strength as we will accept, as much wisdom as we solicit and as much tenacity as we need to go forth in the battles that are before us.  We can not see the end of the road but God in his majesty has it all mapped our according to his infinite plan.  We, as believers, are called to share in a hope, stand in support, lift others up in prayer and humbly be available to access their visible needs.  Yes we are called to be a blessing, to live not for ourselves but for the benefit of others and the glory of God.  

And if by chance you are reading this and think: I don't really have anything to offer....I don't really have too many blessings and how could I possibly be a help to anyone else...just close your eyes a minute and quietly ask God if he agrees.  Seems to me that we all have a purpose of some sort and all have been given gifts for some reason, and probably the reason is not just for our own comfort and pleasure.  We all are a part of a greater universe, not put here to be isolated or self emerged, but to be a blessing to others through what we have been blessed with, beginning with life itself. 

2 Corinthians 1:4
who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 

  

Dear Lord, Help us to remember that you have given each of us something to share; it may be an experience or a gift to serve, but whatever it is, help us to not only identify it but share it for your glory. Amen 

Praise God wherever you are or whatever situations he has allowed you to be in....For His glory will shine through!