Hard pressed on every side but not crushed....

Mom has now completed two treatments of chemo. This past Wednesday was when she was given the Neulasta shot (white blood cell booster) at the Weinburg Center at Hopkins (this is the building where everything is...surgery, ICU, treatments, parking garage, etc.). Originally it was thought that she would receive the shot the day after the treatment at home so Mom and Dad had some nurse friends in mind who could more skillfully give the shot....thanks to those ladies who were willing to help if needed!

I don't have as much to report this week. I stayed home for the weekend due to a school event but plan to be in DE next weekend (along with Lisa and her daughter, Ali, who plan to fly up from Florida).

Thank you for praying, and I ask for prayer that God would:
~give Mom the determination and courage to endure the cancer and the treatments
~provide strength for Dad
~shower His grace and peace over our whole family
~allow the chemo to do its job
~have His hand on the doctors and nurses who are caring for Mom
~provide smooth traveling for Lisa & Ali (Ali's first plane ride)

Praise God for:
~the meals that continue to come from friends and neighbors
~Mom's good days when she has had a greater appetite and felt like doing some cleaning around the house
~all the prayers and support from friends, family, and neighbors


(Encouragement sent to me from Lin S)
I Corinthians 4:7 -9 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile jars of clay containing this great treasure This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.

What a beautiful word picture describing us as “fragile jars of clay” carrying about “this great treasure” of the light of God in our hearts. God designed us this way so that others will look at our weak bodies and our strong spirits and realized the light is from Him and not us.
The Bible never promises us a rose garden, but it does promise a light at the end of the tunnel (and no, it’s not a train!). We will be pressed on every side but not crushed, perplexed but not despairing, hunted down but not abandoned, knocked down but not destroyed. Keep your eyes on the treasure inside, not on the cracked jar outside.

(Encouragement from Sheryl)
My prayer for your mom would be that God would turn her eyes from the symptons and on Him. It is ok to ask "why?" He is still with you all in the whys and the why nots...it's ok! The scripture He gave to me that comforted me: Isaiah 43:1-2 : Brenda, when you pass through the cancer, I will be with you. Brenda, when you pass through the treatments, they will not sweep over you. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compasion on those who fear him.