God is Good

The last year has been quite the year.  I think I would say it has been one of the hardest years, ever, for me.  Shad and I have been through many changes, made some hard decisions and endured health issues all while people we are very close to have been going through some heavy stuff too.  There have been times where I have felt discouraged and even quite scared over the last year.  But, (sometimes I love that word) it has also been a pretty amazing year.  Holy cow, God has been so faithful to us.  He has comforted us, encouraged us, made promises that He has kept and helped us push through.  God is good.

I think the really difficult stuff started when Bethany was 2 weeks old and I had to take her to see a specialist because she was having blood in her stool.  For about a week, I didn't know what was wrong with her and even considered that she could have leukemia.  I was so afraid.  It turned out that she had a treatable milk protein allergy and by the time she was 9 months old, she had outgrown the allergy.  God healed her tummy and she has no signs of problems with milk.  The girl drinks milk, enjoys yogurt and eats cheese like it's going out of style.  God is good.

Next came the decision to move.  Shad and I avoided that one for a long time.  Neither one of us wanted to move away from most of our family, all of our friends, our church, the kids' school and start all over again in a new town.  But we knew that was what God was calling us to do.  I was angry.  We moved last August and it has been pretty great.  The kids are at a great school, I am making friends, we love our new church, we are getting close with our small group, Shad no longer has a 90 minute commute (he's only 10 minutes away) and we still live close enough to see our old friends and our families quite often.  God is good.

We moved because Shad got a promotion, which is a good thing, but it has been hard.  He has a lot more responsibility and he moved up during a time when there was not a lot of work.  The company had not had a money making job in almost 3 years.  They were talking about laying people off down to a bare bones staff and pay cuts.  Shad and his boss were both getting very discouraged because it was starting to look bleak.  But, after a lot of hard work, late nights putting together job bids and prayer his company has gotten enough work that they don't have to lay off anyone and they are starting to feel overwhelmed because they have so much work.  God is good.

At the first of the year I went from having an annoying rash to doing 15 radiation treatments for lymphoma.  It doesn't matter if you are told you have a highly curable cancer or terminal cancer, cancer is cancer.  It's scary and it makes you think about things you never want to think about.  It makes you afraid of every little blemish or weird feeling in your body.  (I have gas, it must be cancer.)  But after the radiation treatment the rash just keeps fading and fading.  It looks really good and the radiation doctor has pretty much signed off of my case.  God is good.

Hannah fell at school a couple months ago and hit her front teeth on a desk.  Her gums were actually split to the point that she had a huge gap between her two front teeth.  The dentist said there were tiny shards of broken bone beneath her gums.  They had to pull her two front teeth and the one just to the left is chipped and loose still.  But, since she had her teeth pulled, she had to stop sucking her thumb.  (She did fall back a little when she was sick last month.)  God is good.

Our friend, Larry, after being hospitalized with pancreatitis, came home very confused.  He drove 14 miles south on the north side of the freeway.  He said he didn't stop for the police cars because he didn't see them.  Many police cars were flashing their lights at him to stop.  The only police car he noticed was the one that a family friend was driving.  A family friend that knew that Larry had been confused and was able to explain that to the other officers that were yelling at Larry to get down.  Next a lawyer from Larry's church was able to convince a judge to dismiss all the charges against Larry for this event.  After finding out that the confusion was caused by a very large tumor on the frontal lobe of Larry's brain, he was told that it was operable and had most of it removed about a month ago.  I just talked to Karen (his wife) last night and she told me that Larry was cooperative and seems to be doing well after being transferred from the hospital to the rehab facility.  This is a huge answer to prayer because they tried to move him once before and the facility sent him back to the hospital because he was combative and angry.  God is good.

My friend Kathy lost her mom to cancer a couple months ago.  Not long after that, Kathy found out that she has thyroid cancer.  She had it removed yesterday.  The surgery went well and she seems to be in good spirits.  God is good.

Finally, there is Jen.  You may have noticed the "Tompkins Family Adoption Fund" donation button on the left of this blog.  I told her 29 months ago that I would leave that on my blog until they bring Asher home from Thailand.  And, now, after months of ups and downs, fundraising (Seriously, they had a garaged sale that raised $3200!!  The exact amount they needed to pay at the time!), insane amounts of paperwork, set backs, delays, flooding in Thailand causing more delays, Jen and her husband Trent have arrived in Bangkok just hours ago.  In just a few more days they will meet their son, Asher, for the first time.  And a couple days after that they will obtain custody of their son and a week later they will bring him home to meet his big brother, Carson and his big sister, Sydney.  God is good.

When I designed (lie, had it designed) my blog, I put a bible verse in the header.  I really wanted to use my blog to show how God is working in my life and using all things in my life for good, the same way He does in the lives off all who love Him and are called according to His purposes.  I am so blessed to be able to look back and see all the good He has been working in my life and the lives of my friends as we have endured, and are enduring, some pretty tough stuff over the last year.  What can I say?  God is good.