I have a devotional book called Streams in the Desert that the Lord has used to reveal to me His words about suffering. This passage is from this week. I know that He is pruning me right now. It hurts; it hurts deep and sometime I feel raw and exposed. But, He is the one doing the pruning. The One who loves me more than I can understand, though I long to. The One who continues to carry me and show me the beauty on this road. He is the one doing the cutting; and I can trust Him. He knows the future, "that the final result will be the enrichment of the life of the vine, and a greater abundance of fruit." He tells me in this passage that if I remain in Him, he will remain in me and I will produce much fruit. Oh how I long to produce much fruit for Him.Steve and I, together with our children, have essentially prayed that after every family bible time for the last few years: "Lord, use our family to make Your glory known. Make us different so we can point others to You." Guess what? He is doing that now. I have never known such comfort and felt such a sense of being carried and cared for as during these last several weeks. Steve has been given courage and words to share Christ with so many.
Do I still cry and feel afraid? Yes, sometimes I do. But, Christ pulls me right back to Himself and I can almost hear Him, "Shhh....beloved...I am here." He is more than enough to satisfy me. I never really knew that until know.
So, dear family, thank you for your cards and emails and phone calls and your prayers. We are doing well. Steve is getting stronger each day on this 15th day post-op. He even replaced a couple of plugs and breakers in our house! We live one day at a time thankful for it and one another.
Christine sent me a text I have kept on my phone: Let me see the beauty You have for me in this.
I pray we will all see it.
We love you all so much,
Melissa, for Steve and our 3
Oh, Madison had a wonderful day with her chosen supper: soup and cornbread with chocolate/pb cookies and chocolate/pb cupcakes, friends to play nerf guns with, and a new pocket knife. She is very happy to be 11. :) And growing so fast we can almost see it!
3 comments:
My dear sweet "sister",
You have the most incredible peace, strength and faith of anyone I think I have ever met, besides our precious Grandmother. Your next calling (I guess after the children are grown and gone...and let's not even discuss that) is to be a writer for Our Daily Bread or some other type of devotional. You are so smart and wise and I feel so inept and fall so short. But I hope to get there one day. You seem to have amazing courage in a time of tremendous fear of the unknown. But I know that God is with you every step of the way, and I suppose will be carrying you through most of it.
Please know that you and Steve and your sweet children are in our thoughts and prayers EVERY DAY.
You are an incredible and special child of God. He has blessed you tremendously. May He continue to bless you in every way and watch over you and your family.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me ~~~ Philippians 4:13
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean
not on thine own understanding;
in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths ~~~ Proverbs 3:5-6
I love you,
Amy
Melissa thank you for your words of faith and encouragement. I think of you so often and am planning on seeing your new country estate this fall. You have been brave and strong. You are loved very much by this family. Steve is held in high regard. We hope to see you soon. We are all confident that God has His Hand on you and Steve and the children.
Love, Aunt Mary
Melissa,
It's good to know you have a grasp on this as best you can. Lord only knows how the rest of us would take and handle your predicament. I am proud of you and envy your determination and faith. Keep the family strong and healthy and lean on those the lord has provided to help.
The LABB Crew (lane)
And thanks for the update. We all know you are busy.
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