Blessings!

"Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress." Psalm 107:6

How comforting to know that we can cry out to the Lord in our times of trouble, and he is able to deliver us from our distress. I know first hand, as you do also, that he does not always deliver us from our distresses in the way that we would like. However, he is always there with us as we go through the storms of this life.

But...what about those times when God's plan is totally in tune with our plan? It's an incredible feeling when a prayer is answered the way that we had hoped for. I guess part of the satisfaction is because we're human and selfish! God knows that, though, and it's just awesome when you truly pray for something and God answers the prayer the way we want. Well, that happened today!

If you've read my recent posts, you saw where my great friends, Ginny and Robbie, were being faced with yet another huge storm. Robbie was diagnosed with cancer. From all of the scans, they had decided that it was Hodgkin's Lymphoma. However, they wanted to get a better sample for a biopsy. Last week when Robbie had the biopsy, the surgeon told them that it actually didn't look like cancer to him - that perhaps it was just scar tissue from a previous infection. As you can imagine, they were relieved to an extent, but still nervous awaiting the official test results. Today, Ginny called me and said that they got the results from the biopsy, and it is NOT cancer!!! Praise God!! She had such relief in her voice, and now just wants her life back. As I mentioned previously, Ginny lost a baby last year, was on bed rest this entire pregnancy, lost her father the week before her new baby boy was born, and then her husband was basically diagnosed with cancer. It has been quite a treacherous ride for them, and now they look forward to enjoying every moment with Maddox (their baby) and each other. Thank you so much for those of you who prayed for Robbie. Maybe it was a misdiagnosis...or maybe God answered our prayers and truly performed a miracle. Either way, PRAISE GOD!!!

Hard times truly make us appreciate the little things. They make us enjoy each moment with those we love and not take anything for granted. I guess most of us would say that we wish there were no hardships in this life (wouldn't that be nice!), but if that were the case, then how would we truly ever learn the magnitude of God's power and his blessings? Don't get me wrong, I'd like to think that losing my baby is enough hurt for one lifetime for me. It would be nice to know that I'll never hurt again, but that's not how it works - unfortunately. After all, our sufferings bring us closer to God.

So, for today, I say rejoice in the good news and the blessings that God gives us. It doesn't have to be a pardon from a serious illness. Sometimes its as simple as being able to get out of the bed, hug the people you love, and simply live life. That is a blessing!

Oh...one more blessing is that Jonathan and I celebrated our 6th anniversary on Sunday! He didn't get all of the attention on Father's Day!! He had to share the day with me...poor thing :)