Being Real...Good news...and 15th of the MONTH

Last night Adam came home late since he was on road training the seasonal help. He sounded terrible. Very hoarse, congested, and had a slight fever.  He showered, ate, took some meds, I prayed for him & then he went to sleep.  It wasn't much longer after he went to bed that the kids were in bed, then Sadie fell asleep, and then I climbed in bed since I couldn't keep my eyes open.  I thought, great, I will get lots of sleep. No alarm clock to go off in the am since the kids didn't have school for deer day.  My night consisted of waking up several times. Sometimes every hour with hot flashes. As I lay in bed praying for Adam, for my friend who had surgery, for the lady preparing for her bone marrow transplant & for others that asked for prayer, I figured there was no point being upset that I was awake, perhaps lots of people needed prayer & I was to intercede for them.  When I woke up for some reason, I thought that the breast tumor had grown in size and my mind started to get anxious & fearful.  I gathered my clothes for a shower but when I got into the bathroom I felt sort of sick. Shaky & weak.  I started thinking, what if the cancer is still growing at a super fast rate & what if the hormone treatment doesn't work fast enough or the right way.  Fear was creeping into my mind and all the what ifs were haunting me.  I started praying as I picked myself off the floor to shower & saying the name of Jesus over & over again.  As I dressed, my mind wandered again to the place of fear of the unknown.  I whistled for my kids to come help me. I wasn't sure whether I felt I would throw up or pass out or what so my kids touched me with their sweet, soft hands and that reminded me that God will take care of me.  I made my way down the stairs to sit on the couch but grabbed my cell phone first.  I had heard the text notification so I read the message from my friend. She was wishing me a better day today than yesterday with less pain and to be energized by God's love.  For a brief second I thought I could just deal with this on my own and then thought better of it. God has placed so many people in my life & my family's to help us through this hardship so I wrote back:

"Feeling shaky. Prayers needed to push back...actually remove all fear."

She replied back with a prayer for me:
"Dear Heavenly Father, I pray to you that you would take this fear and shaky feeling and bind it. Don't allow this to find its way into her mind. I pray your spirit and love would be felt upon Jeannette and guide her today, tomorrow, and each day through this. I lift this to you in your precious name. Amen

I was so thankful to have my children home with me because I handed the phone to one and asked them to lay hands on me and pray this prayer over me.  And then they hugged me with those soft, loving hands again.  I immediately picked up my devotion book another friend had sent me and found today's devotion.

Approach problems with a light touch. When your mind moves toward a problem area, you tend to focus on that situation so intensely that you lose sight of Me. You pit yourself against the difficulty as if you had to conquer it immediately. Your mind gears up for battle, and your body becomes tense and anxious. Unless you achieve total victory, you feel defeated.

There is a better way. When a problem starts to overshadow your thoughts, bring this matter to Me. Talk with Me about it and look at it in the Light of My Presence. This puts some much-needed space between you and your concern, enabling you to see from My perspective. You will be surprised at the results. Sometimes you may even laugh at yourself for being so serious about something so insignificant.

You will always face trouble in this life. But more importantly, you will always have Me with you, helping you to handle whatever you encounter. Approach problems with a light touch by viewing them in My revealing Light.

Psalm 89:15  Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.

John 16:33  I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

If you know me personally, you know that this made me cry. Tears of joy and tears of peace. God reminded me that He is in control. He provided me with the support and the strength to cast the fears out of my mind and put my eyes on him again.

I wanted to share this with you because I am not perfect. I do not always have it together. My eyes are not always fixed on Christ.  I am human & a sinful one. Thankfully the Holy Spirit dwells within me and God has put people around me to help me get through these moments no matter how short or long they may last.  Be encouraged friends. God loves you the same as me and if you allow him, he can do the same for you.

Some GOOD news!!!!

Hours after I read the devotion and received God's peace, I received a phone call from the geneticist to tell me that the panel for my special genetics testing was done and everything came back NEGATIVE!  

 Praise God

Just received a call from our insurance company to tell me that the specialist that was billed as out of network (so we would have to pay the full bill) was incorrectly billed. Praising God for more good news. They will re-bill it and go from there. :)

Prayers are being answered. Still requesting that more be lifted for us.  And a dear friend of mine was told her dr found a lump in her breast at her exam and she needs to have a mammogram done.  She is scared and needs prayer so please pray for her. Peace and comfort as she waits for results. And a report of excellent results too!

And finally for today.  It is the 15th of the month.  Today is the day that I change my contacts & also the day I have Adam put sulfur in the water pipes (if the right season to kill tree roots).

AND Today is the day that Ladies need to do a self exam of their breasts. Please don't put this off. I know they say to do it with your cycle but some ladies I know have long cycles. Some ladies are reaching menopause & don't have a cycle, and some have regular 28 day cycles.  Please, take the time today to do a self exam. PLEASE!!!!  If you don't know how, as your doctor for a handout or google the instructions.  No excuses.  Some insurances are starting to cover mammograms at the age of 35 for a baseline.  Schedule your appointment and go get squished!  And men, you should be doing self exams for yourself as well.  Sorry if this makes people feel uncomfortable but to me, if I can remind even one person, it's worth it!