As the year wanes.....

"I know that You can do all things,

And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted."

Job 42:2

"I will not demand that God explain Himself to me at any time,

for this is characteristic of the unregenerate man.

I must be willing to let God be unreasonable, in my view, if necessary,

because He is not concerned with my understanding, but with my faith.

The unregenerate man sees contradiction in the world

and demands that God justify Himself before him;

the believing man makes no such demand,

but believes God supremely."

W. Glyn Evans from 'Daily With the King'

The quotation above is something I read recently and it reinforced what I know to be true.  God is God, He doesn't have to answer to anyone, and He can do whatever He wants to.  The key to intimacy with Him is to recognize this truth and walk in faith, believing Him "supremely," without demanding He answer my questions or my pleas for changed circumstances.  Period.  There's freedom in that.  :-)

2013  is closing its eyes and tomorrow 2014 will be rising, a clean slate of a year, the events yet unknown.  I'm looking forward to it!  In light of that, I thought I'd give just a bit of an update.

There really isn't much to report.  I am still basically in the same place physically as I've been for a long time.  I have gained about 2 pounds over the past 5 or 6 weeks, which is a really good thing.  And then I did receive one piece of information that has been helpful to my psyche, that being the chronic pancreatitis that I've had for the past few years, is most likely responsible for the cyclic nature of my "ups and downs, good days and bad days."  Somehow knowing this has helped me deal with the more difficult stretches.  In the reading that I've done on chronic pancreatitis, I've become aware that 70% of chronic cases are triggered by bouts of acute pancreatitis brought on by alcohol abuse.  30% is idiopathic, meaning there is no known reason for it's appearance.  This is the category into which I fall.  The only thing I've discovered that may be related to my issues is it is sometimes brought on by major stress. *Ding Ding Ding!*  To quote a little movie sidekick, "Stress, it's a killer, Sir."

At this point, I don't really know if there's anything I can be doing to help my pancreas heal, other than to dial back my activities, work diligently to manage my stress levels in the areas over which I have some control, and get lots of rest.  I'll be talking more extensively with my doctor in January about whether he has any additional recommendations for encouraging pancreatic healing outside of what we're already doing.

So, I extend to you a blessing in the last hours of 2013 here on the west coast:

The LORD bless you, and keep you; 

The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 

The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.' 

Numbers 6:24-26

Again and always, thank you so much for praying with us through these years.  You are each such a blessing to us.