Plaque on the wall at Swedish Cancer Institute, Seattle

Last month diagnosed with a new primary cancer, I visited a lot of doctors with testing and surgery.
The Lord gave me peace and the message "Do not concern yourself with tomorrow for today has enough troubles of it's own." I was prepared to hear the worst, but since I believe in a sovereign God who has a purpose for those who know Him, I was willing to go the route if needed. The tumor, "angry and large" according to the biopsy reports, when fully removed in mastectomy surgery became small and no other involvement. I praise God for healing and His grace. Praise Him with me.

At Christmas, God gave us the most incredible gift. He sent His son, Jesus, part of the triune God, three in one, to earth to become one of us, like us in every way except He did not sin. It was the most wonderful gift because we are fallen beings, needing hope, joy, peace, a transformation and healing. There was no other way to experience this but for this babe, God/man, to come to earth to be like us, and unlike us, to sacrifice all for our benefit. He took on our transgressions, and for those who  believe, granted us benefits of peace, joy, transformation and healing so we might come to know God and live the life we were created to live. Celebrate with us the real meaning of this season.

"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him my help and my God." Psalm 42:11

"The LORD will comfort Israel again and make her deserts blossom. Her barren wilderness will become as beautiful as Eden - the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found there. Lovely songs of thanksgiving will fill the air." Isaiah 51:3

You, Oh LORD, take those places of hurt and pain that affect all our living and you alone bring hope and new beginnings and beauty. Can there ever be joy and gladness again? You promise and your promises will not be broken. Help us to sing again.

Paperwork and the cards we're dealt

Dealing with Paperwork

How do people who grew up in times of difficulty get rid of the stuff they think they will need? Is it compounded by living on a small island? Perhaps, but  FedEx by ferry and UPS by plane eliminates what used to be island isolation.  I am waiting for the mail to deliver a Fujistsu Scansnap to help with the paper piles after reading Michael Hyatt’s blog on leadership. I want to take some leadership over my desk and writing aspirations/ inspirations as we consolidate houses and contents. It's really the paper piles that gets me down.

1.       The more you have, the more you have to deal with and this is not an advantage except in card games.

2.       The time it takes to shuffle possessions around could be used for shuffling around ideas in your head and put to use (like here on a page) instead of a shelf or table.

3.       The extra that you don’t need can benefit others. In the same sense, what I want perhaps I probably don’t need and if I need it, I pray the Lord will direct me to the former, like the blog above.

We keep and don’t get rid of “stuff” mostly because we think we may need it tomorrow. Does saving it in a small island out there called a “Cloud” like Evernote just transfer the piles out of sight like stuffing it in a huge drawer? But then, the cloud is so big, I won't have to worry about tomorrow.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:34 NKJV

How do you make decisions about what you keep or not?