Stripped Away


 

There's something so very humbling about walking this journey and I've been in a state of grief this past week. The grieving of starting a new chapter; that our lives will never be as they were, the grieving of starting chemo and not knowing what that will look like, the grieving of sending our kids back to school when I anticipated having them home this year.  There's so many things in our life that have been stripped away and surrendered to the Lord. Letting go is a process and has been heartbreaking for me this past week. All the things I once thought our life would be or look like have totally changed in the last 6 months. We never thought in a million years we would be walking this road full of pain and heartache yet full of joys like we've never known before.  Coming to the reality that we can't and won't be able to do everything. It's been humbling being on the receiving end of needing help instead of giving it. We can do nothing else but say "Here Lord Jesus, it's all Yours, I don't know what to do or where to go but You do."


I had the thought of an old board having the paint stripped off. There's beauty that lies beyond the old weathered paint but it takes work to get to that beauty. How that illustrates in our own lives; God is stripping all of the things we held higher than Him and under all of those things there will be beauty that comes. I've seen how prideful I've been in my life; how many things I've tried to find my identity in other then Christ. None of these things will give us our worth and value that comes from being a child of God, made in His image.


Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10


We got Jesse's results from his CT scan earlier then anticipated.  The cancer in his liver has grown and also has a new spot on his left lung. It hasn't spread or grown significantly but Jesse and I have decided to start chemo as so as possible with these results.  We feel we've given this natural approach a hell of a shot and it's time to move on to the next step in our journey.  We're also going to be working with a natural-path cancer doctor who will be supporting Jesse with other methods as he goes through chemo. Jesse will be on a schedule of chemo every two weeks for at least 3 months. We will have an appointment with Jesse's oncologist Wednesday to discuss when chemo will start.

Some practical ways we could use help as we embark on chemo:

Healthy baking for kids lunches

House cleaning

Rides for Jesse to appointments

Prayer for our kids as they transition into school again

Yard maintenance (our front flower beds are a hot mess)

You can email me if your able to help out:  jvyn25@gmail.com


Lots of love,

Jenn and Jesse

https://youtu.be/7qZlPOe3bFw

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. - 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Habakkuk 3:17-19:

“Though the fig tree does not bud

    and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

    and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

    and no cattle in the stalls,

    yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength;

  he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

  he enables me to tread on the heights.”

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