For those of you who have been reading our blog since the beginning (
2004) or at least since Roger was diagnosed with brain cancer (
2006), you might be able to relate to the following. Pastor Matt Chandler of the
Village Church in Dallas, Texas had a seizure a couple months ago which sent him to the doctor where a brain tumor was discovered. Soon after he was scheduled to have the tumor removed, experienced some difficulty after surgery which kept him in the hospital longer and required rehabilitation before he could find out the pathology results to make the decision about his next course of action. He began radiation therapy today. Sound familiar? It's kind of scary how familiar this story is to us.
Wow, as I have been keeping up with Matt's condition, streams of emotion keep flooding in as I am swept with memories of our experience in 2006. Being able to relate to what they are going through and knowing how scary and overwhelming it all is, one other element is also constant in our similar ordeals and that is our God is enough. When Roger walked into my office on that Tuesday and shut the door to tell me he had a tumor and it was scheduled to be removed the next Friday, our first thoughts and prayers were God will get us through this and He will be glorified in it. We had already experienced this two years before when Roger got the call from his First Sergeant saying he was being deployed to Iraq. We knew then God was sending him there for a reason and He would be glorified through it. As most of you know, God sent Roger to Washington DC instead of Iraq, in order for Roger to glorify Him there and to show He keeps his promises as our whole church prayed corporately Roger would not go to Iraq. Amazing story there too.
But what I mainly wanted to share with you today is, again, that our God is enough. He is faithful and He loves us and He's right there beside us in everything we are going through. But He is enough. I can not lie that it didn't cross my mind on more than one occasion that Roger might die in war in Iraq or on the operating table in DC, but I always knew no matter what, God would get me through it and I had Him. That's all I needed. Him. Nothing else.
Every time we go through a struggle I think about how we get through it because of Him. Before I found Jesus, I heard a lot of testimony at the church we were attending of people going to God when they went through a tough time. I remember thinking, "I hope when I go through my first tough time I remember to go to God first." You know, since I hadn't experienced anything 'bad' yet. And when we hit our first rough spot, the Iraq deployment, not even a year into our marriage, I remembered, "Go to God first." He is faithful. And He loves us. He keeps His promises. And He is enough.
You can keep up with Matt's story by visiting a
blog on the church's website. And be motivated to praise God by watching a great video made by Matt's church family
here.
Thanks for letting me share with you today what I have been experiencing lately. ~ Holly
Labels: brain cancer, god is enough, matt chandler
As you know by now, if there is a month with a fifth Sunday, our church serves our community and city. Yesterday, we spent the afternoon with friends from Austin New Church serving Communities in Schools (CIS) at Martin Middle School. We made over the CIS counselors offices and group therapy room. It was so much fun and the results were amazing. You can see pictures by clicking on the image to the left. You can also read a recap of Serve Austin Sunday here.
