I am so thankful to see the beauty of spring popping up all around me! Spring is my favorite of all the seasons – when God awakens all that slumbered with new life, new breath, and His vibrant pallet of pastels and greens. Such an undeniable and glorious display of the restoration and miracles of new beginnings that only God can bring.
It’s
been quite some time since I last touched base and well,…we have got some
catching up to do! So, let me take just a bit to get you up to speed on all
that has been happening in our little neck of the woods. I am also including a
few photo snapshots of our lives over the past year.
Speaking
of milestones, I am still in remission! This fall will mark three years since I
underwent chemotherapy for stage IV bladder cancer. Many recurrences tend to
happen within the first three years following treatment. Admittedly, since my diagnosis,
I have struggled to believe I might survive this cancer. Yet, as time marches
on, the odds continue to increase favorably in that regard. So, for the first
time in nearly three years, I am starting to dip my toes in the water and slowly
wade into the idea that God might keep me here a little longer.
I am
not the person I once was and while I feel I have little to nothing to offer,
God is able to use what I do have and He makes it enough. He makes ME enough,
and He makes YOU enough too. He’s pretty cool like that. So, I’m just gonna wade
in the baby pool with my floaties for a while, but the depth and size of the
pool doesn’t matter – it’s the surrender and getting in that does. Just as God awakens and restores His creation in spring, so He is awakening and restoring me.
Oh
Lord, please don’t let me pee in this pool while I’m learning to swim again!
Help
me to accept the person you have created me to be, in each and every season, and
help me to let you lead as I wade deeper into the waters of this life.
For all
I have, and all I am, in you alone, Lord, is more than enough.
A few
months ago, I began volunteering a few hours each week at one of our local high
schools – filing music and offering up support and encouragement to the band
students and staff. I cannot begin to tell you the joy and worth this little
venture has given me. I have something
to offer! It’s not much, but God has made it enough. He has taken the abilities
I have right this very moment and is using them to fill my needs and the needs
of others. Thank you, Lord.
In chapter
9 of the Gospel of Luke, you will find one of several mentions of Jesus feeding
the five thousand. In a rather remote
area, a large crowd had gathered around Jesus and the disciples. Jesus welcomed and ministered to the crowd,
but as the daylight hours began to wane, the disciples suggested Jesus send the
crowd to find lodging and food for the night.
“He
replied, ‘You give them something to eat.’” – Luke 9:13
The
disciples only had about five loaves of bread and two fish – hardly a
sufficient amount to feed themselves, much less a crowd of five thousand! Yet
while the disciples focused their attention on what they didn’t have and couldn’t
offer, Jesus took what they did have and made it more than enough. Jesus made
the difference the disciples couldn’t make on their own, and He is still in the
business of making the difference you and I can’t make on our own as well.
Offer Him
what you have. JESUS IS ALWAYS ENOUGH.
“They
all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of
broken pieces that were left over.” – Luke 9:17
Wishing
you and your loved one a wonderful Easter. May you know and enjoy the blessings
of Christ and the fullness of life He has to offer today and always.
Much
love,
Angela