Behold, your God will come.........

Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. 

Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not.

Behold, your God will come........."

Then the eyes of the blind will be opened

And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 

Then the lame will leap like a deer,

And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.

For waters will break forth in the wilderness

And streams in the Arabah. 

A highway will be there, a roadway,

And it will be called the Highway of Holiness.....

.....the redeemed will walk there, 

And the ransomed of the LORD will return

And come with joyful shouting to Zion,

With everlasting joy upon their heads.

They will find gladness and joy,

And sorrow and sighing will flee away. 

Isaiah 35, selections from verses 1-10

Sometimes I go awhile without writing because there is nothing really new.  Or I feel as if I should just be quiet for a time.  Sometimes I don't want to share because it's the same old thing......no good news.  Some days, like today, I feel the need to write and ask for the prayers of the saints because I am discouraged, frustrated and confused.  Isaiah 35 talks about encouraging the exhausted and strengthening the feeble, speaking truth to those who are anxious.  I need that, and I'm so grateful that His Word always speaks to every situation, is new no matter how many times I read it.  Today is no exception.  I look forward to that part at the end where sorrow and sighing flee away.  :-)

Dale and I covet your prayers as we once again try to figure out the next step.  It seems that every treatment I've undergone has resulted in me feeling worse.  In treating the possibility of Candida, I've been on Nystatin, - two different types - for weeks now with no improvement.  And the past few days have been pretty rugged.

So many thoughts are running through my head as to what to do.  Information from past doctors, new information from outside sources and people who have walked this path, a longing for someone to be able to put all the pieces together and really determine what is going on.

Please pray with us, once again, for God to give light to our path.  And we need wisdom, always.  James says if we ask in faith, without doubting, He will give wisdom.  And Paul's prayer in Colossians 1 is a foundation for me....."I ask that you will be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."

I rest in His sovereignty, asking that He bring glory to Himself through my life and its trials, at the same time longing for health.

Thank you for joining us in prayer so faithfully.  And your gentle inquiries and encouraging words also mean a great deal.  Bless you, each one.

Light.....

Light arises in the darkness for the upright;

He is gracious and compassionate and righteous.

Psalm 112:4

Light is in Him.  Grace. Compassion. Righteousness.  Such a blessed picture of our God.  It reminds me of the contrast between the deeds of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5.  The darkness of the flesh and the light of the Spirit.  Every time I read that passage, I feel myself recoil from and flinch at the description of the deeds of the flesh, and then yearn for and lean into the beauty of the fruit of the Spirit.  Darkness versus light.  All of us who know Him lived in darkness at one time.  But the darkness of the deeds of the flesh are behind us, and we are living in the light.  Light belongs to God.  It's Him, His essence.

"This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you,

that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."

1 John 1:5 

I think living in the Northwest causes me to revel in light more than I ever have living elsewhere.  It was just common in California.  Hardly ever dark and cloudy for more than a few days running.  Same in Missouri.  Here I crave the light and delight in the moments when the sun breaks through the clouds on a dark day, and am so thankful for full sunny days when they come along.

So, wow.  I guess I kinda took off on that!  Where I was actually heading about the whole light thing was to say we would really be blessed by more light being shed on where I am now in the treatment and healing process.  That in His grace, compassion and righteousness, He would shine His light on the path we need to take.  Clearly.

I was able to see the colleague of Doctor Allison's this past week and it was a good appointment.  The "big guns" prescriptions have been called in again and I should be able to pick them up early this week - with my insurance covering them.  That's huge.

Since my appointment with Dr. Allison two weeks ago, I have felt better than I have for a long time.  I've changed a few things in my diet-and-supplement regime and started drinking well water (as opposed to filtered city water).  There have been several positive changes overall.  In light of that, I feel the need to talk with Dr. Allison again before I start the new course of medication to see if she has any input on the changes.  We'd appreciate prayer that we will hear the voice of the Lord in what I should do.  These antibiotics are still scary to me.  They represent the possibility of months of ill-effects, coupled with the hoped-for positive effects of killing off the bacterial overgrowth.  So, assurance that we're on the right path would be wonderful.

I'll let you all know what's up as we go along.  Thanks so much for praying!