Rejoice and Go Tell It On the Mountain

Yesterday was the third Sunday of Advent and we should be singing “Go Tell It on the Mountain"! Not necessarily from a mountain. That would mean we'd have to go climbing! Perhaps we can start right here at ground zero to be joyful and full of the good news of Christ's coming to this earth for you and me.

The pink, third candle on the Advent wreath was lit, The pink candle symbolizes JOY and REJOICE. The theme scripture that Paul wrote in Philippians 4:4 is “Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say rejoice.” My pastor shared that the laughter statistics in a single day is 400 laughs a day for children versus 4 laughs a day for adults. Maybe we need to hang out with the kiddos more so our joy "bank" fills up! When St. Paul penned those words, he knew something about making it through tough times. Can you imagine that he wrote that scripture from a dark, cold and damp prison cell? No matter where we are or what we're facing....we can find JOY in the good news of Emmanuel, God with us, right smack dab in the middle of our circumstances.

Typically, PINK is girly. We put our little girls in pink dresses or outfits with a pink bow in their hair to declare "It's a GIRL"! (In my case, my little Staci had NO hair so I scotch-taped a little bow on her head. I know that's hard to believe when we see that massive head of hair she has today! LOL! Sorry -- I took a rabbit trail from my train of thought about Advent. Pink isn't just about girls. Hot pink, pale pink, rose pink are all shades of pink that God painted into a sunrise. And, like the various shades of pink, our expressions of joy can be so different. Joy can be exuberant. We saw that joy and jumping up and down by little children on Saturday at the Birthday Party for Jesus child at the prospect of something that excites them so much. (See my post from yesterday.) JOY is also that calm and peaceful experience of realizing God's faithfulness. It can be calm confidence in His sovereignty or pure delight as He expresses His love. I felt that peace and calm yesterday, as I watched my grandson, play the piano at their yesterday morning’s church service or when my granddaughter, asked to sit by me in church and proceeded to put her arm around me or lay her head on my shoulder. I felt that joy and I wanted to rejoice about it. has truly come to be linked with "Pink" in our culture.

Joy AND pink are also about survival. Oh, the sweet joy we feel when one of our friends expresses "I've just had my last treatment of chemo! I'm a survivor!" A celebration of survival has truly come to be linked with "Pink" in our culture.

On this 3rd Sunday of Advent, PINK is also about rejoicing that our Savior, as a precious BABY BOY Who brought so much JOY to this world.

My pastor said in his message, “This has been a challenging year for me and when I start to feel sorry for myself, I remember Paul who knew suffering. Paul led a challenging life. Paul knew difficulty. Paul had people who hated him. But, Paul expressed the key to overcoming is in rejoicing. He urged us to rejoice and rejoice some more. The joy of the Lord can thrill us AND it can make us steadfast in the secure knowledge of God's presence with us -- Emmanuel. Paul further tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 to be joyful always and Jesus tells us in Mark 9:24 "With God all things are possible." THAT combination of trust should help us.....carry on not just through Advent, but for the entire year to be rejoicing and rejoicing some more.

Nurse Donna On Duty 24/7

At age 14, I was a Candy Striper at a hospital in Dallas. The unique job title represented the candy cane look of the red and white-striped pinafores we wore. Back in those days, I aspired to one day being a nurse, so, like other teenage girls, we volunteered to assist the nurses at the hospital by serving the patients in basic ways (i.e., taking them flowers and mail, refilling their water jugs, carrying medical specimens to the lab, etc.). But, those plans were dashed when I married my handsome 18 years old sweetheart when I was just out of high school, and just 17 years old, and then worked as a receptionist and bookkeeper to help put him through college. Then the next year, when I turned 18, I gave birth to our son. If I had it to do all over again…….I’d do it all over again……..no changes, because it’s been the journey that God destined for us! Looking back through the rear view mirror and being constantly living in the “if only” stages of our lives does not serve us well. God is always telling us to “press on”, go forth, rise and shine, and "remember not the former things"! And, that’s what we’ve been doing for 44 years now.

Fast forward to August, 2010…..after 3 weeks and 2 days in the hospital and the fifth surgery in 3-1/2 months, we are so thankful to finally be at home. Aw…home sweet home…there’s just no bed like “our bed”. But “home” has become somewhat of a make-shift hospital as here I am, at last, being a nurse, but not exactly as I dreamed it would be. Though the severe staph infection has been cleared up per the negative lab reports, my Honey must still be on antibiotics by I.V. for 6-8 weeks to ensure the infection is long gone. So, with a brief training program from our Home Health Care Nurse, I am officially giving him the antibiotics by I.V. three times a day. I’ll admit my hesitancy to take on such a role that I only witnessed the professional Registered Nurses performing in the hospital. It did seem overwhelming at first with so many sterilizing techniques, flushing the lines, clamping and not clamping, and calculating the drip timing, but like a good student who practices and prepares, I’ve got it down pretty good – 6 a.m. – 2 p.m. – 10 p.m.

Pressing through the intense back pain that has continued throughout our journey, and now having to use a walker to assist him in regaining strength to his legs that were so affected by the tumor that had compressed his spinal cord, Ron has prevailed as the known optimist that he has always been. His ability to smile in the face of overwhelming personal challenges has been amazing, not to mention the fact that his work abilities have been affected. Trusting God for provision has been another huge portion of our faith journey. But we continue to insist that our soul (our will, our mind and our emotions) prospers and is in great form! We realize that maintaining a positive and peaceful attitude (soul prosperity) is key as in I John 3:2 “Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.” Physical Therapists will be starting to work with him this week to further assist him.

Today was one of those roller coaster days again as we went to two doctors: the urologist and the oncologist. Neither gave us favorable reports and I’ll confess that I’ve had one of those days where the tears flow in unbelief that in such a short time that we could be faced with so many complex health issues. As reported by the oncologist today, “Because of the fast growth, we must begin chemo treatments immediately.” So we are scheduled to start chemo this Friday (via I.V. in the oncologist’s office for one hour) for the next 12 weeks. We were told “chemo doesn’t cure, but it does slow down, and many times remission takes place”. We’ll believe for that!

So Nurse Donna is on duty, and it’s about time to give my patient his next I.V. We are no less in hope and faith, because God’s Word is still our surest foundation in every turn of the road in our journey. We are strengthened and encouraged by the continuous acts of love and support that is coming our way from our wonderful and dear friends and family. We know your prayers are giving us the tenacity to "STAND" and press on to the finish line. I’m reminded of the words of a song of one of my favorite gospel recording artists, Donnie McClurkin, “Stand”. I leave these words with you to encourage you on your faith journey wherever that may be for you today. Much love to you all! Ron & Donna Wuerch

“STAND”, by Donnie McClurkin
Tell me what do you do when you've done all you can.
And it seems like you can't make it through
Child, you just stand. You just stand. Stand.
Don't you give up!
Through the storm, through the rain.
Through the hurt, through the pain.

[Chorus]
Well, you just stand,
When there's nothing left to do
You just stand.
Watch the Lord see you through.
Yes, after you've done all you can,
You just stand.

Don't you bow, don't bend.
Don't give up, don't give in.
Hold on, just be strong.
God will step in and it won't be long.

Child you just stand!