The sun is shining through our big window this early Saturday morning. I am sitting in the blue recliner enjoying the morning sunshine and warming up! Praise the the Lord for the sun and His goodness! Why when the sun shines do I feel like I can conquer my house, life looks brighter, and the harshness of the world becomes softer?
Today we are cleaning the house thoroughly! Each child has a job and they are scurrying around like little busy beavers! Tomorrow starts a week of revival meetings by Dwight Smith and his family. Life continues to roll on, giving each day a new challenge and new chances to serve God and others. Today I am 10 weeks pregnant. Is that a surprise to some? Did I plan this pregnancy? No, yet I would LOVE to have another little one. I am convinced that God is the creator of life and this little life is in His hands. I have tried to keep this a secret, but it is a difficult thing to do if you start showing as soon as I do. I was also not telling because of the the last three losses. Some people also have their personal opinions--they may or may not share--about whether I even should have any more children. But...then again...this could just be my own perception of people. I really wanted to wait until I was at least into the 2nd trimester. At 7 1/2 weeks I had an ultrasound and was able to see the baby and hear his heartbeat...158. The fragility of life is so evident when you see those scans! I went to the doctor for my first “official” appointment this last Thursday. We talked about how Zachariah was born early and what could have caused his early birth. We both agreed that since he was alive when he was born, the problem was that I had had pre-term labor and he was born too early. We talked about the possibility of the cause being cervical incompetence. With all my other children, I never had any problems or complications: no surgeries, or any interventions in delivering my children. In short, I have been very blessed with good health. Cervical incompetence is basically a cervix that is too weak to stay closed during a pregnancy and it is the premature opening of the cervix without labor or contractions. Therefore, resulting in a premature birth and possibly the loss of the baby, because of the shortened gestational length. It is believed that cervical incompetence is the cause of 20 - 25 % of all second trimester losses . Thursday my doctor did an internal exam and said my cervix was already starting to shorten, in her opinion...she looked really sad and gave me a hug. She is sending me to Ohio State University (an hour away) for the doctors up there to look at me and give me a transvaginal ultrasound (measures the length of the cervix). They will not see me until 12 weeks...that is the starting point. So...for the next 2 weeks, I am not on bed-rest...but on "chair rest" and “just-don't-do-anything-to-cause-this-baby-to-be-born rest.” I am waiting for the call from OSU for an appointment. If it is cervical incompetence, there is a treatment...cerclage. This procedure involves having a 5 mm band of permanent suture placed high on the cervix to keep it closed. This is done when there is significant effacement of the lower portion of the cervix. It is generally removed at 37 weeks...then I would be on complete bed rest. Yes, I am afraid...yet at the same time, I know that my God is in control...this is probably the last baby I could have...so that does scare me. We are looking to Christ and praying for a good outcome! In the meantime, I will enjoy each new day the Lord gives me and continue to bask in his Son as I sit in the sun in my blue recliner! "For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee." Psalm 84:10-12 KJV The following poem was sent to me by the author. After experiencing 3 miscarriages in 2010, the words of this poem strike real meaning. May many other hurting women find comfort in these words and in our Saviour...the One who cares so much more!! I was fearfully and wonderfully made, As God covered me in your womb. While my substance was still yet unperfect, My members, in His book, there was room. I was no secret to God as He formed me, For His glory, He shared me with you, Just long enough so you'd know me, When we meet face to face o'er the blue. I'll know you when I see you; You'll know me, too, as we meet I look like you, and yet like Christ, I'll be sitting at His feet. Remember, now, God's wisdom, He knew what was best for me. He'll also help to ease the time of waiting, trust and see. Author: Darrell Riggs “God is good all the time; all the time, God is good.” How long could you say that phrase and still mean it? It is easy to say God is good when we narrowly avoid a car accident. It is easy to say God is good when a sick relative is healed. When circumstances – even tough ones – turn out according to our desires, it is easy to say, “Praise the Lord!”
But what if you were born with a disorder that caused you severe pain for your entire childhood? What if your family was in a car wreck and you lost a portion of your hand when it was crushed under the vehicle? What if the school you lead for over twenty-five years experienced a devastating fire? What if your grandchild had to undergo major heart surgery? What if another grandchild passed away before being born? Through all of this, could you still say, “God is good all the time; all the time, God is good?” It might seem impossible to remain faithful to God and trust in His will through circumstances such as those. Yet, by God’s amazing grace, one family has been able to do just that. Why? Because this family believes that in all things God has a plan, and that God’s plan is to use trials to make us grow in Christ and bring glory to God. As the DeLeon family drove headed down the highway one evening, they had no reason to expect that their trip would be any different than the rest. Yet in an instant, everything changed. The family van swerved and then rolled onto its top, coming to rest on young Autumn DeLeon’s hand, crushing it. Doctors would have to remove a portion of her hand in order to save it. “God is good all the time; all the time, God is good.” Of course, this tragedy would be hard enough for one person to bear, but Autumn had already endured a lifetime of trials. She had been born with a condition that caused her daily pain for most of her childhood. Think of how awful you feel once every few years when you come down with the flu and now imagine feeling that for days at a time, year in, year out. “God is good all the time; all the time, God is good.” When the family van rolled over, leaving a mother and 8 children on a roadside under the care of paramedics, one of their first calls went to Dr. Dennis Ice, Headmaster of Heritage Hall Christian School and the children’s grandfather. Within the previous year, Dr. Ice’s one of Dr. Ice’s granddaughters – Isabelle – had been born premature and spent months in hospital NICU while another granddaughter – Zoe - had been born with a major heart defect that lead to life-saving surgery just months into her existence. “God is good all the time; all the time, God is good.” As Dr. Ice headed down the highway to be at the hospital with his hurting family, he already had a heavy burden on his shoulders. A burden God had been helping him bear for some months. In the crisp, cold morning hours of a November morning, a fire had broken out in the Christian school which he had faithfully led for over two decades. The fire caused major damage to the school facilities. Classrooms had to be arranged, insurance had to be settled, families needed to be encouraged, and when inspectors gave their report the one word was spoken that no one wanted to hear: arson. The fire had been set intentionally. “God is good all the time; all the time, God is good.” To be certain, it wasn’t always easy to say those words and mean it. Once, when a colleague reminded Dr. Ice that trials are “opportunities,” Dr. Ice replied that he wasn’t sure he needed any more opportunities! Who could blame him! And yet anyone who heard him make that comment could tell you that there wasn’t a single ounce of grumbling, complaining, murmuring, disputing, or bitterness in his words. The twinkle in his eye was saying what the entire family said through days, months, even years of trial. The very words Cassandra DeLeon said as she looked at her family’s crumpled van: “God is good all the time; all the time, God is good.” This is the true story of the DeLeon and Ice families. Ben Ice, founder and President of Truth Trackers is the son of Dr. Dennis Ice. The families would never take praise and glory for their evident faith in God, but would gladly proclaim that it is only by God’s grace that we can say in every trial: “God is good all the time; all the time, God is good.” Author: Aaron Whisler is a writer for Truth Trackers and is on staff at Heritage Hall Christian School in Muncie Indiana. He and his wife Brenda are currently going through a heartbreaking trial of their own. Myles Jonathan Whisler, was born on December 15, 2009, very early and with many medical problems. He will have to deal with many surgeries and a long road ahead. Aaron and Brenda trust a great God to see them through the days ahead. They too have testified that, “God is good all the time; all the time, God is good.” All the sadness of losing little Zachariah came back with a rush…The Lord has his purposes for taking Zachariah home before we could visit with him and really get to know him. I understand and accept God’s perfect will, yet that does not mean the pain of loss disappears. The tears of never holding him still come at times; however, the hope from my Saviour overpowers the loss… Each day as I get older the shortness of life becomes more real and the need for Christ’s presence more intense. Deuteronomy 32:10, 11, 12 “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, the LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him. The mother eagle stirs up the nest when it is time for the eaglets to learn to fly. The nest has been soft, warm, and comfortable. She scratches out the softness, making the nest prickly. They begin to fall… Having stirred up her nest, she “spreadeth abroad her wings,” She “beareth them on her pinions.” She swoops beneath them, catches them on her wings, and bears them up. Teaching them to fly, she drops them again, and again they struggle in the air, but this time not so helplessly. The process continues until the eaglets learn to fly. She is always under them, ready to catch them on her wings. That is how God deals with you and me. Trials and trouble do come. But sometimes God needs to move us from point A to point C or D. We have to learn and God teaches us many different ways. To get to point D he may stretches us a bit or drop us from the nest… He is always there to catch us…but it is not always comfortable.
Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, Hebrews 6:17-20 The key to a hope in my Christian life is the Anchor of my soul. Thinking on truth...I have a refuge to a strong encouragement so I can hold fast to the hope or confident expectation that is set before me. A hope where Jesus has already gone on my behalf.
I may not always see the anchor, but He gives me the chain to look at! Was it providential that a sweet young friend from a former church would have called me 3 months ago and asked to come to visit for a week during her spring break? The very week my little Zachariah was called home to Glory? What a comfort to have her when I was physically weak! Was it providential that we had Tom and Caren Fuller to preach for our Bible conference? The very Sunday after the Lord took Zachariah home? What a comfort to have friends to show comfort from the word of God and to take Michael's place in the pulpit? Was it providential for my parents to be able to find a helpers for Grandma and for dad to not be too busy to come and help officiate our little service? When I see the chain that is attached to the Anchor, and I think on Truth...God's Word...I am reminded of God's love for me and the strong Anchor He is in the time of trouble! |
AuthorGod reached down in love and rescued Cassandra from her sin at the age of 21: changing her life, purpose, and focus forever. Archives
February 2019
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