Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Saturday!  All is well here at 811.  I have spent most of the day thanking so many friends and family for their wonderful messages of hope, encouragement and well wishes. I have spent several hours on the phone talking with family and friends and it has been wonderful.  Bruce has been outside much of the day working on an ongoing project. He works until he gets really tired. This is a project with a deadline rapidly approaching so please keep him in your prayers so that he can complete this project and put it behind him.  Thank you all so very much for your prayers now and in the days to come. They are keeping my heart at peace and my spirit uplifted. God is good and love wins!

Dear God, thank you for being with me in my yesterdays and in my tomorrows. I praise you for blessing all the days of my life.  Even though I cannot see you God I know you are there because you have always been there. Lord, I give thanks that you are there in the voices of friends and family. I am grateful you are there as my hiding place when I just need to be with you. When I am with you there is no trouble because I am surrounded by perfect love.  I love you Lord. In Jesus name, amen.

As this abrupt change in my life has come about I have had some time to think about my attitude. Is cancer a scary thing? Yes! Can I do anything about it right now? No. I would not be truthful if I said I do not think about it with every thought. Because of course I do. However it is not in my nature to be a gloomy Gus.  But here is the thing…I do not live in a house of fear. The house of fear teaches that I have cancer because of some great sin I have done in my past and this is God’s punishment. If I believed in this theology I would be angry at God and blaming God for this interruption in my life and plans. I would also be denying the salvation of the Lord through the forgiveness given by Jesus on the cross. The forgiveness on the cross is God’s faithful grace –filled love found in the kingdom of eternal love.   I live in a house of Love. This house is filled with our God who is fully with me today and always eternally guarding and guiding me along the road. God did not give me this disease, but God promises in His Word that he will be with me and somehow bring goodness out of this experience.  God goes behind me in protection, before me pointing me in the right direction and beside me for companionship.  And when I become weary, frightened and feeling very alone God has offered his very self as a hiding place for as long as I need it. 

“The LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Psalm 52: 12

“You are my hiding place; you shall preserve me from trouble; you shall surround me with songs of deliverance.”

Psalm 32: 7

Take joy in the journey allowing the LORD to teach us to do His will because He is our God. Wear comfortable shoes, get some sleep and think pink! (That last part is for you Carme.). Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene