Monday, September 26, 2011

God I am Thankful for...............

This weekend I was at a women's conference at a local church led by Kathy Troccoli. She had  2 other guest speakers come and speak and something one of them said really resonated with me. She talked about a young woman named Kara, only 32, who had cancer and only had a short time to live. She had gone through the chemo, radiation and all forms of treatment, but the cancer had spread throughout her whole body and she wasn't going to make it. She was married, had 2 young boys and had a beautiful heart for Jesus even in the midst of her suffering.  Kara said she was THANKFUL FOR THE CANCER! She was thankful because of how close it had brought her to God. She was thankful because her family members were becoming saved by watching her joy and love for God in such a difficult time. Even her funeral was a witness and brought family members to God.

This really resonated with my because I often say that I am THANKFUL FOR THE LYME DISEASE! Now my suffering is nothing compared to Kara and her suffering, but I do believe it is a part of God's plan to mold me into who he needs me to be. I don't think that the life I had planned out for myself years ago was really meant for me. God's plan is better, but its not always easier. It is hard to be chronically sick and for people not to understand, to not work like everyone else and to kinda feel like you are on the sidelines in life watching everyone else run about. I have struggled with this lately because I was expecting God to have a big revelation for me after going through this. A special job for me or a special assignment in life, but so far I am still waiting. It is so hard to wait and to be content with the right now. But in all reality I do have a great life, with a great man who loves me very much. He is never disappointed in me for not working, and his only real requirement for me is to be happy and have a smile on my face when he comes in the door. :) I think God is trying to teach me to be still and find contentment in Him and not compare myself to what the world's standards for contentment are. So even though it is hard to be sick, it has brought me closer to God, closer to my family and a simpler life where I am spared a lot of stress from the world.

So what are you THANKFUL for? Do you have a hardship in life that you are blessed to have gone through?

6 comments:

  1. This is beautiful, Susan. I think of you as someone I can count on to pray and a wonderful housewife. :)

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  2. Thank you Heather! I know that I do have more time to pray than most people and that is an important job to have!

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  3. i'm thankful for my faith, it the base of everything else i could say i'm thankful for :) i love womens conferences, ours is coming up at the end of the month!

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  4. Its nice to meet you Ashley! I'm following you now too! :)

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  6. I am thankful for my family! :) sweet post & blog.

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