I had a great weekend! I am still dealing with weakness and a few other side effects, but in general I am feeling well.
One of the things I have missed most through this whole ordeal are the weekends when I am not well enough to go to church. We have four services at Community of Faith and I normally attend all four! By the end of the weekend I have Mark's sermon memorized! The weekends after chemo treatments I am just too physically weak to go. So, this being one of those weekends, I was feeling pretty sad on Saturday afternoon. I knew that this weekend would be special as we celebrated our annual "Give Your Best Gift to Jesus" offering, Baby Dedication, and the COF "stomp" version of The Little Drummer Boy which is one of my favorite Christmas traditions at COF! As Mark left the house Saturday evening for the Saturday service I was in tears, wishing that I could be a part of all that would happen this weekend.
As usually happens, God met me there. He whispered to my heart that I did have a part in the weekend services; my part was to pray. What a humbling thought that God would call on me to pray for His church. The tears disappeared as I was immediately energized and jumped right into my task. I spent the next hour praying for God's power and His Spirit to fill Community of Faith, and for each one there to experience the love of Christ. I prayed that every person at COF would be fully committed, body and soul - the same prayer I have been praying daily for all of 2009. What an amazing gift to be able to end the year praying for all the people I love so much who have been praying for me all these months!
I also had the freedom to belt out praise songs and Christmas carols at the top of my lungs with no one around to hear! I danced with the cat as we remembered God's precious gift to us at Christmas; and then I collapsed on the couch, energy spent, full of that "unspeakable joy." I may not have been physically present at church this weekend, but I was definitely there with you!
To top it all off, on Sunday, our amazing tech team set things up so that I could view one of the services live over the internet! I had a great view from the ledge of the sound booth in the back of the room! I didn't miss a thing! Isn't technology great? Thank you, God, for allowing me to still be a part, and thank you tech team for making it happen!!
One of the lyrics that the worship team sang today says, "I will rest again for You are good to me..." He has been good to me, even while I rest!
"You can trust God, He will not let you be tested more than you can stand. But when you are tested, He will also make a way out so that you can bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13
"For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me. He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him." Luke 1:49
I love being home alone and belting out songs. :) I especially LOVE the CD "House Blend Volume 2" !!!! I went to the COF site to see if there was a Volume One but can't find a link. What a wonderful CD!
ReplyDeleteIt seems like forever this resting and waiting and missing out but I can see you making up for it when this is over! Your gonna be super energy duracell bunny on the go!
I know u must have been praying hard because I felt that on Saturday night when we attended service....I was so moved by baby dedication and watching my child bring his best gift to Jesus and then stepping out on faith without telling my husband what our best gift was going to be...Mark said if you were not scared then u should give more!! I was definitely afraid of my husband's reaction but it worked out ok as always when God is in control! We love u and miss u and hope to see u next weekend! Working on something for you and Mark with another COFer and hopefully we can get it to you this weekend! LOVE YOU!
ReplyDeleteTechnology is great! Your presence is always felt Laura whether you are there in person or not. Sing those carols out at the top of your lungs and just let it go.
ReplyDeleteSaturday's service was awesome and we were also one of the couples who changed their Best Gift after listening to last weeks message. God is always working isn't he? Have a blessed week.