His Mercies Are Never Depleted...They Are New Every Morning!

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion’, says my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. Lamentations 2:22-24.

Ron and I grew up as “church” kids. Both of our parents ensured that we were in church every time the doors opened – Sunday School, Sunday morning and Sunday night services, Wednesday night service, Thursday night youth services, prayer meetings on Friday night and when an evangelist came into town, church was every night of the week. Back in those early years, we learned every Bible story, every hymn and chorus (and the actions), and memorized a lot of scriptures. It was so sweet to know God as children. Our needs were met and our wants were provided for and pressures only came when we were about to have a big test or exam at school or we had a friend who disappointed us. Even in those early years, we learned what it was to call upon the God of those Bible stories, scriptures and songs to be our "help". And, the older we got, the more we discovered, that all of those years of “child training” (Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”) established us in life. In fact, we carried those same principles on and into our own children. Now, especially during these “mature” years, we realize that our faith has been built upon those principles – for example – the same God that kept Daniel in the lion’s den and the three Hebrew boys in the firey furnace, that helped David slay the giant, that opened the Red Sea for Moses, and more than all that, the same God that gave us His only Son who went about doing good, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear…..is the same God who loves us and desires to perform His good works in us today! That’s what our Moms and Dads really gave us -- they were instilling in us the fiber, the fortitude, the tenacity, the unwavering faith and strength to draw from and to know that our God loves us unceasingly and that when the going gets tough and pressures seem insurmountable, we have a confidence in knowing….WE WIN! We know that our hope and our trust was and always will be in the One whose steadfast love never ceases, His mercies will never come to an end, and His faithfulness will always carry us through.

And most certainly, during this Faith Journey (aka Our Great Adventure), we have drawn from the well of God’s faithfulness and strength many times. Two weeks ago, we felt like we were conquering! We were making good progress, having had the first round of "targeted therapy" (chemo) and passing that test with flying colors. Then, a week later, a new infection took us back to the hospital for seven days, with a battery of tests, scans, treatments, and procedures, that “temporarily” interrupted our plans again. .

My birthday was August 26th and the very best birthday gift was getting to take my Honey home from the hospital. Friends brought us a lovely dinner and we all celebrated with my favorite "Ding Dong Cake" -- you really don't know what you're missing if you haven't had Merritt's Bakery's Snowflake Cake (actual name).

Now that we're home, our daily prayer is that the pain in Ron’s back ceases and desists. We know his healing started when we first believed…..way back in March. We read and meditate on healing scriptures as much as the regular medicines he takes. We’re still giving him an I.V. three times a day for the staph infection that started back in April. He's on strong medications for the pain, and I continue to be amazed at how well he does with hiding the pain as he carries on business via phone, e-mails, and visits with people who come to see us. My Honey and I had a very close bond in our relationship before, but now, through this time of helping him in so many ways -- physically, spiritually, and in business -- we are realizing that over the 44 years of marriage, God has put in us a confidence and strength beyond anything we had ever thought we'd need.

Yesterday, Ron had his 2nd scheduled targeted therapy treatment. The treatment room has over 50 recliner chairs in it where patients receive their chemo treatments. At times, we are naive to think that we’re the only ones who are going through tough times. It’s truly an “eye opener” to be one of the crowd of folks who are also working on their restoration to good health. We continue to pray that our attitude and belief system will inspire those in that room and those we encounter on this journey.

This morning Ron announced “We’re going to church today!” He said, “If I can sit through hours of medical treatments, I can sit and worship and thank God at church!” And that’s what we did. As we were going forward for communion today, Ron, walking with a cane, reached out his cane and tapped a friend’s cane. Ron leaned down and whispered to this friend, who has the same oncologist and is on a similar faith journey as us, “We’re going to beat this thing!!!” His friend nodded in agreement. Yes, in the many miles of this faith journey, we continue to hold fast to our profession of faith and we continue to prove our Lord’s love, faithfulness and strength……and His mercies are never depleted. They really are new every single day. What comfort! What joy! What relief!