Ephesians 3:13-31

Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

For this cause (my tribulations)I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory,

•         To be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
•         That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;
•        That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 
•        And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
•        That ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Here is Paul, praying not that God would help him in his tribulations, but that God would use his tribulations to do four things in the Ephesians people’s lives.

 My father directed me to these verses a couple of weeks ago. In light of our own trials the Lord has put us through, these verses were very powerful.

 Our family’s heart is Paul’s prayer. We want others to be strengthened, that Christ would dwell in your hearts, that you would know God’s love, and be filled with the fullness of God.

 We want the Lord to get all the glory. He has done so much for us through the prayers and sacrificial gifts of believers from all across the country. We can only praise Him for His Goodness, Love, Mercy, and Grace. The Lord has done exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think. We know it was His power. Each of my children has seen the greatness of our God because of believers from across the country.

 Autumn is doing well. Her hand is healing very well. Her thumb is still a little tight, because of the large scar tissues. We are massaging this, working hard to break up that tissue before it hardens. Continue to pray for full use and strength of her thumb. She still has nightmares, but less frequently.  On occasion, she will come in our room after a nightmare; we hug and say the floor beside our bed is reserved for her.

 Many people may have noticed we have not mentioned anything about needing a van in this site or asked anyone to pray. We have purposely not asked for prayer. We wanted God to show Himself big to our children, church people, and our community. As a family we have prayed for the Lord to give a van. Stephen (5) correctly surmised, “If God owns everything than He could just give us a really cool one.”

 Well, He has… more information will be coming next post.

See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. Deut. 32:39




Thursday we went to the orthopedic institute in Columbus for another evaluation of Autumn’s hand. He was thrilled with the progress that she has made so far. Although to the inexperienced eye her hand does not look “good,” it is healing much better than the doctor had anticipated. The stitches will dissolve by themselves and the scabs will fall off. Under the scabs is bright red new skin. The two remaining fingers are getting stronger; however, her thumb is very weak. She has a tendency to ignore her right hand. I am constantly reminding her that she can use her hand. Wednesday she will start Physical therapy. This will strengthen the hand and thumb.

 She played her violin on Sunday. She is in desperate need of a bow that will work for her. I do not like that she cannot hold her bow correctly. At this point, I am at a loss. Holding the bow with only two fingers can only happen if the hand is moved up on the bow. She seems to play pretty well this way, although her grip is very weak. Sometimes when she is playing, the bow will fall out of her hand.

 One evening, as I was reclining in bed, I was speaking of Autumn’s hand. I said, “I feel bad because her hand is going to be like that forever.” My husband reached over, took my hand, and replied, “No, not forever, just on this earth.” That is a perspective that is eternal and not temporal.

In 2006, Autumn had surgery to remove her colon. We were at the dinner table the other day, when someone brought up all her missing body parts. Her quick answer was, “God sure has a lot to give me when I get a new body in heaven.” Amen to that! There is not a better answer. In the same context, I thought of our little Zoe Farmer, my new niece given to my sister and her husband as a gift from our wonderful heavenly Father. www.treasureinafield.com What a precious gift God has given them to take care of. Zoe will someday be given a perfect body in heaven as well.

 The other children are doing a lot better; time is always good. Serenity, who always has something profound to say, commented on the way home from church on Sunday evening, "God let us have that crash". This opened a whole conversation on how wonderful our God really is. We praise the Lord for His graciousness to us in spite of our failures.

 Please pray for the Pastor Shawn Smith family. There son 7 year old son Andrew is fighting for his life tonight with a brain tumor that has started to grow again. We love them dearly and know that our Saviour loves them even more. Read the latest update now by using this link: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/aws