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My Journey Begins...

I am a believer in Christ, and I have breast cancer.     On August 17, 2017, I was diagnosed with an aggressive (HER2+), recurrent (hormone negative) type of Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.  At this point, they have not yet staged my cancer because they are waiting for the biopsy results from a suspicious spot in the second breast. The biopsy is scheduled for September 5th, with a lumpectomy to follow on September 7th.  They will formally stage my cancer after they biopsy my lymph nodes, which will be taken during the surgery.  It doesn't make any sense to me that I have a cancer diagnosis - I am a fairly healthy woman who runs 2 miles almost every day and eats a gluten-free, primarily paleo diet, with no family history at all.  But it makes sense to God, and so here I am. Update ~ They found 4 isolated invasions during the lumpectomy.  Due to the nature of my cancer (HER2+ and ER-), the recommended protocol is chemotherapy and radiation.  Beginning in October, my chemotherapy regime

Grace in Marriage

When we launched our new blog we had no idea if anyone would see it or be helped by it, but we knew that the LORD was prompting us to step out in faith and just do it. The response has been amazing and we are looking forward to how God will use this space for His glory. We have learned over many years of service in a variety of ministries, that God does not require human assistance to realize His plans for individuals, churches, nations, or the human race. But the story of the bible is the story of God’s will playing out through the words and actions of the His children. So…we pray, meditate on his Word, and write from the heart about the truths that mold our faith, guide our actions, and inspire our hearts and minds. Please visit the site and subscribe to continue receiving posts.  https://graceinmarriage.com/ It is our sincere hope that you are blessed by our work here and welcome your input on how we can make Grace in Marriage even better. Thank you for your support.

Final Journal Entry ~ 01/13/20

Hi friends -  This is a bittersweet post.  This journal entry will be my last post on this forum. God has been moving in my heart and the heart of my husband, and He has called us to join forces to write a blog together on marriage. I still plan to post daily devotions, but they will be focused on marriage and posted on our new platform. There will also be additional content - our testimonies and stories, as well as my husband’s  thoughts on marriage. We don’t know where God plans you take us in this journey, but we are excited, humble servants and willing to go where He leads.  I want to take a moment to thank all of you. I am deeply grateful for those of you who have taken this difficult journey with me. God has done some amazing things through this blog, and I will be forever grateful for the way He has used it to grow my heart closer to Him.  I would love for each of you to continue to follow my husband and me at our new site: graceinmarriage.com Hope to se

Journal Entry ~ 01/12/20

2 When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. 3 Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.  - Psalm 27:2-3 When we have been wronged, our flesh often wants to respond with anger and hurt. We want to either we retaliate or withhold and isolate, and we end up in one of two places: fear or judgment. But those responses only add to the trouble we're already experiencing. This verse reminds us how we are to respond when we experience another's sin. We are to run to God, not from Him. Instead of meditating on all the nasty things that were said or done to us by another, we are reminded to meditate on the glory and goodness of our Father. Don't allow yourself to think you're the center of the universe - our story is no longer our story, we are part of a greater story. Meditating on His greater plan takes the focus off of us. We must also remem

Journal Entry ~ 01/11/20

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  Psalms 27:1 If we're being honest with ourselves...we would have to admit that nobody likes to appear weak. It's humbling to not know the answer, to fail at a task, or not to be able to solve a problem. We live in a world that values success, so we try to take control. We fear failure. So we spend our time trying to hide our anxious thoughts or our broken relationships, trying to make it look like we’ve got it all together. We post pictures of smiling faces, and we stuff those fearful thoughts deep inside our hearts. But we love a God who promises us strength, a God who promises to bring light into the darkest of places, a God who promises to send out an army to rescue us. We don’t have to hide the mess from Him - He already knows it all, and He still promises to hold your hand through it all. When He is the stronghold of your life, you have nothing

Journal Entry ~ 01/10/20

1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:1-2 As we continue to meditate this verse, we find the danger of not softening our hearts to hear other people's exhortations - the opposite will happen - our hearts will harden.  When we continue to hold our hand up as people in our lives try to reveal the truth about our hearts to us, if we continue to distance ourselves from the people God has sent into our lives to share the truth with us, if we continue to knowingly sin when confronted with the truths in our lives, eventually we will become unable to see our own sin. We lose the ability to see ourselves as others see us, or as God sees us. When our hearts are hardened, it becomes more difficult for His truth to penetrate, which means we need to be more broken for the truth to

Journal Entry ~ 01/09/20

1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:1-2 We are called to bear one another’s burdens in this passage. A burden is translated as a heavy load that’s difficult to carry.  We are instructed to carry those burdens because doing so is what God commands in His law. It’s our responsibility as believers in Christ that we would bear one another’s burdens - that means we would do the hard stuff for others with a smile on our face.  We joyfully work for others. When others ask us to serve, we willingly offer our services without complaint. Some of us will do the hard work, but will complain about it to anyone who will listen - this isn’t bearing one another’s burdens. We carry one another’s burdens because we are called to love one another before ourselves. While bearing one

Journal Entry ~ 01/08/20

1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:1-2 If any of our believing friends or family members are caught in a transgression, when they’re living in an unguarded way in some aspect of their life, we who are spiritual are called to restore them. But God knows our tendency toward judgment, so we are immediately instructed to restore them with a spirit of gentleness. Restoring is to put something back together, as a bone that’s out of place. Gentle is how Jesus describes himself in Matthew 11:29, when you are burdened, take my yoke on you for I am gentle. Gentleness is sweetly reasonable and approachable. If you’re angry at the person for their sin, if you’re offended, if you’re judgmental, you’re not going to be gentle. Again, God knows our heart well enough to continue th