part II

I first want to say thanks to all of you that read my previous post and joined me in fervent prayer for our dear friend undergoing surgery for a brain tumor. What a privilege and blessing it is to know that God is an ever present help in time of trouble!

Join me in praising God....
A surgery that was supposed to last nearly six hours only took a little more than two.
He woke up with very little aftermath from a very major brain surgery.
He was up and walking within a days time as well as joking with those around him.
The surgeon is confident they retrieved at least 95% of the tumor.
He was discharged and home a day earlier than expected.

I had the great joy of seeing him and visiting with them yesterday and what a blessing it was!
Had the outcome been different, God would have still be faithful and altogether good.
I am thankful however, that He has chosen this outcome rather than something else at this time.
Please join me in praying for continued healing and continued honor to God through all of this.

Praise the Lord!
tiffany

no such thing as a stranger

The last day of the 'Edwas Family Vacation'
Badlands Ministries, Medora, ND
August 2011

Several weeks ago one of our closest friends decided to talk to a doctor about a couple of vision related spells he had had over the last year. They were nothing he was concerned about, but thought it was better to be safe than sorry, as the old adage goes.
That appointment was on a Tuesday.
The doctor, wanting to cover all bases, ordered an MRI for Wednesday afternoon.
By the close of the day on Wednesday, we sat in a circle on the floor of their living with them and another couple, held hands and prayed for peace and protection as they deal with the reality and repercussions of a brain abnormality, later diagnosed to be a brain tumor.
He is thirty seven years old, husband to one amazing woman and father to two fabulous kids.
That was about four weeks ago.

Today...in eight minutes actually...he will go under the knife as the skilled hands of a neurosurgeon takes on the challenge of removing all or part of this tumor that has taken residence in the left side of his brain. From there, they will biopsy the mass and determine what exactly this intrusive growth is.

If ever there was a moment when it seemed as though time stood still, this would be it.
This is one of those moments in life that my heart crawls back to the promises painted all over Scripture reminding us of the greatness, grandor and all consuming nature of the God that has created and continues to sustain all that has been, all that is and all that will be.

Every day of our fleeting existence was authored before our lungs ever expanded or our eyes ever took in light. What is a surprise to us, is not to God.

As my sweet friend said to me yesterday, "as humans we are strangers to others, but in the Body of Christ, there is no such thing. The idea of 'stranger' does not exist among the Body of Believers."

That is why I am coming to you today.
I do not share their journey out of pity or out of charity, but out of a love for the Body of Christ,
and a belief in the power of prayer.
Please, please, pray for my sweet friend Jeff and his faithful wife Roxanne as they walk this road and trust in the God that has already gone before them.
Please pray that the lives of those involved medically would be changed, challenged and encouraged by the presence of God in and through this.
Please pray that our eyes would behold the faithfulness and the beauty of God even in the face of something so awful as cancer.
Please join me in praising God for His faithfulness and ever abiding presence and that it is not dependant upon our recognition or understanding of it.
God is faithful!!!

prayerful.
tiffany

three women

I stood in the second row of our large sanctuary and bowed my head as I listened to our congregation sing the closing hymn. Tears flowed down my face as my heart sat silently before the throne of my holy and loving God. I replayed the conversations of the week in my head as I wrestled with the temporary nature of this brief existence on Earth.

Three women...
three women that are more like sisters than friends...
three women with three stories...
three women that my heart loves...
three women that love Jesus and want nothing more than to glorify Him through their time on earth.

One woman just said her last good byes to her dad as she buried him on Friday.
One woman is taking life in stride as she hears the words 'tumor' and 'biopsy' and 'brain surgery' as they relate to her thirty-seven year old groom and best friend and father of her two young children.
And yet another woman, making an unplanned flight to the East Coast to stay by her brother's side as he lives his final days. She encourages his wife and his sixteen year old daughter who is praying Daddy doesn't die on her birthday today.
Three friends. Three lives. Three stories.
Three women holding fast to God's faithful promises and His abiding presence.

'Your eyes saw my unformed body

and all the days ordained for me

were written in Your Book before even one of them came to be.'

Psalm 139:16

'"For the mountains may depart

and the hills be removed,

but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,

and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,"

says the Lord who has compassion on you.'

Isaiah 54:10

This life is nothing more than a vapor. 

We watch people like the Kardashian's or the Jolie-Pitt's living opulent lives full of glamor and exotic experiences, but when all is said and done, our lives will be shown for what they really are and only the eternal will remain (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).

Nothing will last. 

Steve Jobs took no Apple shares with him. 

Kim Kardashian's multi-million dollar ring is nothing more than shiny rock confined to a dusty planet. 

The long black limos and the designer clothes, the corporate ladder and the Ivy League schools...it's all just stuff of Earth. Nothing has the power to save other than the name of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:18). 

For 'what does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and yet loses his soul?' (Mark 8:36) 

My friends...before your head hits your pillow...before you turn out the light...make things right. 

Don't rest another moment until you are in right relationship with God and others. 

The last conversation I had with my brother is one that I will regret forever. 

Don't make the same mistake. 

Turn off the TV. 

Log off of Facebook.

Love your children. Apologize to your spouse. Seek peace with your parents...neighbors...friends...foes. 

Use the breath in your lungs to breathe a word of thanks for the life you have lived, the privileges you have had and the people that love you. 

But most of all, make things right with God if you have not done so. 

God's Word says, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) .

The truth is this: we are not guaranteed heaven. As humans, we want to believe that every person that has ever lived a 'good' life is spending eternity in heaven. This is far from truth. God's Word clearly states that we must first acknowledge that we are in need of a Savior (Romans 3:23) and that we must confess this (Romans 10:9) before Him. When we do, He will be faithful to forgive us and deliver us from them (1 John 1:9). 

We are not guaranteed heaven in and of ourselves, but we are guaranteed heaven when we call upon His name. 

Three women...

Three stories...

Three opportunities to see God faithfully at work in the lives of those that love Him. 

I don't know whose story will be next...perhaps it will be yours...perhaps it will be mine, 
but take heart in knowing that every day of your life is so firmly held in His hand. 

It is just up to you how you will choose to live them. 

blessings.

tiffany 

a paintbrush and praise

paiting the dreaded door and window trim in our bedroom 

my sweet friend and Godson celebrating his first birthday

This week has brought birthdays, death, epiphanies (two to be exact) and medical results.

Our sweet Godson turns one today! We celebrated his birthday last Saturday and thanked God for this little life. He was a much awaited and much prayed for baby for years before his conception. We thank God for his life and his family and we are exctied to see what God has in store for this sweet boy and his lovely parents.

One of my dearest friends lost her dad early Monday morning to a heart attack. In many ways, I still feel as though we are little girls and are very much in need of our moms and dads. My heart has hurt for her all week and wish there wasn't 1400 miles separating us. His untimely death has uncovered a lot of the hurt that still lingers from my brother's untimely death at the young age of 28. Following on the heels of Ted's death is that of 56 year old Apple CEO Steve Jobs, the 11th wealthiest man in the world and a technical genius and visionary. Death does not discriminate...the young, the old, the rich, the poor, the brilliant and the inept, those with children that still need them and those that don't. We all have an appointment with God that we will not be late for, but it is possible to be ready for it. As we seek to live life in right relationship with God and others, death will bring pain but not regret.
If only we would live everyday like it is our last because some day, we will be absolutely right.

My marriage has been tested and thanks to the grace that God gives, we will stand the test until death separates us. As I was walking with God by the light of the moon and praying for my marriage, my husband and my children, I had an epiphany. The result? We have taken the week off of school and I have taken the initiative to do things that I have expected my husband to do for me. The result? A blessed man and an awakened desire to finish strong (the house reno that is) .

Yesterday, the kids all had dental appointments. We spent three and a half hours in the waiting room yesterday morning while they each went one by one. Are you ready for this? There was not a single fight, whine or poor attitude. Even my four year old played wonderfully. We got a full day of school done, books read and played make believe. Oddly enough, we really enjoyed our time together in the dentist office and were blessed by the staff's amazement over such great kids.

We have dear friends struggling with health issues and sweet youth group kids that are waging war on the home front. As I see the hurt, uncertainty and unfairness of life all around me this week, I can't help but see it all against the unbelievable back drop of God's faithfulness. There are more questions than answers but there will never be more pain than healing, loss than blessing or evil than good. The truth is, God's unmerited favor is lavished upon us as a sinful and underserving creation so abundantly that we only need to open our eyes and claim it as our own. As we journey through life on this blue planet, we are not at home, this is not our final stop in this journey of life. There is pain and there is joy. There is unfairness and undeserved blessing. There is death and there is life. But, in the midst of it all, there is hope and as long as you have breath in your body and blood in your veins, there is hope.
For those of us that have called upon His name, there is hope beyond that as well.

May His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. 

May your heart hold dear that which is eternal and hold loosely that which is fleeting. 

May you look to Him--the Author and Perfector of our faith, 

the Alpha and Omega, 

the Beginning and the End, 

the Creator and Sustainer of all that has been, all that is and all that will be. 

He offers redemption from the pit and hope for the future. 

To Him be all glory, and honor and power forever and ever. 

Amen. 

blessed weekending.
tiffany

together

We have come a long way together.
together. I love that word. 


I remember the first time he called me his girlfriend.
We were both lying in the dirt, peering up into the engine of his beloved Bronco II, watching the transmission fluid pour out after a particularly challenging and exhilarating hill climb in the Blue Hills.

I remember the first kiss.
Too sacred to describe.
A moment I will hold onto forever. A moment we still talk about.

I remember the first time he held my hand.
I still laugh at the memory of our engagement...an anxious 19 year old boy on his knee waiting for his stammering girlfriend to accept his proposal in front of an entire wait staff of a restaurant.

I remember not knowing what the future held, but not caring.
I remember feeling young, but knowing I was loved completely and knowing that was all that mattered.
That, and God was faithful.
And the three of us, we were in this together. 


Through the births of our children,
the deaths of loved ones,
the bounced checks and student loans,
the exciting days and the every days,
the sweat and the tears,
the milestones and the mundane.
We are in it together. 
And nothing but death will change that.

How blessed I am.
tiffany

i'm blessed

it has caught up with me.
in a way, I knew that it would...or figured it would anyway and it finally has.
my self pity and lousy attitude has taken it's toll on my family and marriage.
I could go on and list all the reasons--the perfectly good and justifiable reasons--as to why I have wallowed in the slime of self pity, entitlement and resentment. Or I could just say thank you.

Last night as I walked with God under the multitude of stars, all of which He knows by name, I cried out my tears of regret and longed for a do-over. Unfortunately, this life doesn't afford do-overs, but it does afford move-forwards, for which I am deeply grateful.

As the still, small voice of my faithful and gracous God spoke truth to my heart, I knew that healing would only come through gratitude. The only way to mend what I have broken, repair what I have damaged and re-claim what I have forfeited is to allow gratitude to consume to me and cover me like a garment. Rather than point out my disappointment, I will spell out my blessing. Rather than focus on the irritation, I will thank God for the opportunity to love and be loved. even when I am not deserving of it.

So today...this first Monday of the month of October, the month of ghosts and goblins and everything dark, I will thank God for the heavenly host, the quiet of my soul and the power light has over darkness. I will choose light...I will choose gratitude...I will choose to acknowledge my blessing rather than curse the inconvenience. I will thank God for the journey rather than complain about having yet to reach the destination.

I will dwell with those I love most and do my best to make them feel loved, rather than obsess over being loved, knowing that it is only through loving others that my soul will be filled with love.
I am blessed.
tiffany

This is me, joining my friend Gretchen over at He Sows She Sews in her fabulous Monday morning 'I'm Blessed' posts. What better way to start the week?!