Amy's 'momentary trouble'

Well, it’s been several days since I’ve posted a comment, but I’ve been busy trying to clean a nasty piece of malware from our computer and helping Trevor design and build a 3 dimensional model of a sulfur atom (the night before it was due!...needless to say, I wasn’t happy). Anyway, Amy wasn’t able to have her chemo treatment this week as her blood platelets were too low. I view this as a blessing in disguise as she has been very week, tired and discouraged. Maybe this will give her a chance to regain some strength and lift her spirits. They did, however, withdraw another 4.3 liters of fluid from her belly while she was down to Madison yesterday.
Amy had some Iowa visitors today as her mother brought Amy’s aunt and uncle up (who were in Iowa visiting from Tennessee) along with their grandchild and Amy’s (MUCH) older sister Kelly. They went out to lunch together and visited for about three hours before they left to go back. Amy hasn’t seen her aunt and uncle for about 6 years and they had never met Hope. I was at work and wasn’t able to meet up with them, but I am glad for Amy that they were willing to sacrifice the better part of a day to come up for a three hour visit.

2 Peter 3:10-11a But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?

What a great question! If you were watching T.V. and the weather man came on and said that a tornado was spotted in the area where you live, what would you do? Take immediate shelter, of course. While you were in college and a professor told you exactly which subjects including chapters and pages where going to be covered on next week’s mid-term, what would you do? Take careful notes so you could use your time wisely. As we live life, we are faced with situations on a daily basis that require a response; you come to an intersection and the light is red, your response (for most people at least) is to stop. For the most part for each situation there is a logical reaction. Later, Peter answers the question; We are to live holy lives and serve God as we wait for and look forward to the coming of the day of God. Just as notification of impending danger elicits an immediate reaction out of us, having read God’s Word and knowing what is expected of His elect and knowing as well what is to come, this too implores a reaction from us. Hope for the future is not a license for irresponsibility in the present. Just because Amy and I are under great physical attack doesn’t mean for one moment that we shouldn’t be about His work. Let us look or ‘wait’ forwardly for the day of the Lord, but let us ‘wait’ actively. For most of us, waiting actually is the problem. We are so good at waiting that miss opportunities and therefore blessings. We forget to look…We are too content…We forget to search the skies…and we seldom, if ever, allow the Holy Spirit to interrupt our ‘all too important’ plans and lead us to His work…for His kingdom…for His worship so that we might see Jesus.

Are you doing His work?

Praise to God!
Your character is holy
Your truth is absolute
Your strength is unending
Your discipline is fair…
Your provisions are abundant for our needs
Your light is adequate for our path
Your grace is sufficient for our sins…
You’re never early, never late
You sent your son in the fullness of time and will return in the consummation of time
Your plan is perfect…
Bewildering…
Puzzling…
Even deeply troubling at times…
But perfect none the less.

This is Amy's story as seen and told by me – V