Words

This has been the worst september of my life.

My Uncle Bill passed away on Sunday September 16th, two weeks after his mom died. He is survived by his wife, and his three kids who are the same ages as my sisters and I. It was so hard to see him on sunday because he didn't look anything like the Uncle Bill I knew. He was so skinny with no hair, he was only semi-concious, and he was struggling to breath. We only were there for about two hours and then he was gone. Something that was really nice to see was the way his wife was taking care of him. You could tell that they were still totally commited to loving eachother even after twenty-five years of marriage ( It will be their 25th anniversary this tuesday, the day his funeral is planned for) My family prayed fiercely that God would open Bill's heart and he would accept Christ before he died. We won't know until we meet our Heavenly Father if he did.

This has been such an incredibly hard year, I can't even explain it. There has been so much to be discouraged about but we've always pulled through because of the hope we have in Christ. I've been realizing that almost NOTHING is in my control. So many people would think this a scary thing, but I find it kind of relieving. I can always be assured that God is working for the good, and no matter what happens in my life that I see as "bad", God is using it somehow for His Glory. This doesn't mean I'm happy with my circumstances, but it does mean I can be joyful and hopeful.

Do you know what was really neat? My parents told me that they were feeling down and oppressed and they felt like they needed to read the passage about the armour of God. They picked up the nearest Bible and it happend to be my granny's that they took home after she passed away. They looked it up in her Bible, and there is was circled, the whole passage. We didn't even know if she had been reading it. I just thought that was neat, if you don't that's fine, I'm not very good at telling stories anyway. Do you know what else is neat, through everything that has been going on we have had multiple opportunities to share the gospel with our family and to pray with them, something that would never have been accepted before. Our greatest hope for them is that they will come to know Jesus as their Friend, Saviour, and Lord, He is the only way.

I still don't have a kitten and I really want one. I think God is teaching me something about patience, I don't know. haha.





Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm, then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, witht the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation ad the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Ephesians 6: 10-20