Peace, joy, and waiting

Today we've been waiting on results from the post-radiation CT scan, and we've also been praying for my cousin Wendy, who had surgery today to remove a brain tumor. Our prayer today has been from Philippians 4--


Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say it--Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone.

The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.


I love "the Lord is at hand."

One of the things that makes God's peace so incomprehensible is that it blossoms into an even more amazing joy. And to have a heart filled with joy and guarded with peace--how incredible is that??

A week or so ago, we visited Grace and Peace, Peter and Melanie's church, and we sang "We come, O Christ to You"(okay, G&P uses "Thee," but I'll use "You" here). Anyway, some of the truths hit pretty close to home these days:
________

We come, O Christ to you, true Son of God and man,
By whom all things consist, in whom all life began:
In you alone we live and move, and have our being in your love.

You are the Way to God, your blood our ransom paid;
In you we face our Judge and Maker unafraid.
Before the throne absolved we stand, your love has met your law's demand.

You are the living Truth! All wisdom dwells in you,
the Source of every skill, the one eternal TRUE! O great I AM!
In you we rest, sure answer to our every quest.

You only are true Life, to know you is to live
The more abundant life that earth can never give:
O risen Lord! We live in you: in us each day your life renew!

We worship you, Lord Christ, our Savior and our King,
To you our youth and strength adoringly we bring:
So fill our hearts, that all may view your life in us, and turn to you.
__________

Sometimes it's easy to think about giving our life to God because it's a little bit vague--but here the writer gets very specific--"our youth and strength"! There are few things we value--I value--more than our youth and strength. But as we bring them, the writer asks that God fill our hearts--presumably with that peace and joy I talked about earlier.

So please pray that we have peace and joy as we hear test results tomorrow (Wednesday), and that he gives us wisdom as we go forward. It's been a hard day today waiting, but I think we'll sleep well tonight.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Once Upon a November

Image
Today is November 7, a day that will always represent one of the most defining moments in my family's life. Fourteen years in Heaven. It was roughly 1:15 in the afternoon when Brian gave his last breath on Earth. It was a Monday, and that afternoon and for many years to come, I found myself begging and praying to God:  Please don’t let anything happen to me. I need to be healthy, strong, and alive for my boys, at least until they live on their own. Please, please, please don’t let me get sick.  As I reflect on that time, I know how traumatized I was, allowing my fear to own me. At some point, the feeling and prayers became less frantic because I learned to tuck the fear away. I guess I had hoped it would just disappear.  This year, as most of you know, has been a journey for my whole family. We have worked together to face challenges, and, yes, we have all grown. But the fear that I so carefully stuffed into the deepest part of my heart? Well, it never did disappear and has been i
Read more

Add to the Beauty

Image
In any crisis, we may ask, "Why?" As rational humans, we crave the why because it helps make sense of our world, the reasons, even the chance to possibly predict the outcome and to maintain control of the crisis. And though I don't have any definitive answers, what I do have is a reflective experience. For the most part, the why may or may not be answered in this lifetime. However, what I have discovered is the pause to stop in the midst and catapult oneself to 30,000 feet, alleviating the intensity to let God show you a glimpse of what He is doing. There is always a purpose, great purpose, divine purpose. I confidently say that because I see His blessings and hand everywhere. In how my community adds to the beauty of God's story for my life. In rich conversations. In messages. In people's generous hearts as they dig deep within themselves and ask, "what can I do to help?" My forever friend Kristen, since we were 15 years old, who has walked with me in
Read more

The McMaynor Summer of Reading Plan

Image
It's time to start blogging again. It has a been crazy, crazy year with summer now upon us, and I'm excited to be with my family. Ice tea and gardening. Family projects and travels. Movies and books. And so many stories already. At some point at the inception of summer break, Max and Todd had an interesting interchange that has evolved into a family summer reading challenge. Max, an avid reader, says to Todd, rather randomly: You know how you say you don't read very much, Dad?  Todd: Um, yes? Max: Well, maybe you should read more. I challenge you to read ten books this summer. If you read ten, I will pay you a reward. Max is so much like Brian! We can lose him for hours, only to find him either with his head buried in an engaging book or in a delicious game of Minecraft. This challenge sparked quite the conversation, and it evolved into all four of us planning to read ten books this summer. In partners (Max-Todd, Briggs-Susan), we decided each will choose five books f
Read more