Thank You

Today I celebrate 5 years as a leukemia survivor. As I reflect back, I want to take a brief moment of your time to thank each of you for encouraging words and prayer over the years as I have managed this disease. With the grace of the LORD and incredibly effective medication, my day to day "battle" now is simply each day saying a prayer of thanks and taking a pill that suppresses a protein in my body that causes the cancer. Though I still deal with continual side effects to the meds, the cancer cells in my body are so minimal at this time that my diagnosis is that of having achieved a "complete molecular response" to the medication.

Yet even as I celebrate my triumph, a young friend of mine lost his battle last night to cancer, bringing to mind a clear reminder of how precious each day of life is.  So as I mark this milestone in my life, I encourage each of you to celebrate your family and friends today, take a clear look at where you stand in relationship to GOD,  and continually offer up encouragement to others who may be dealing with health issues of their own. Sometimes just a kind word brings someone victoriously through another day.  

I Timothy 1:17 "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."

Thanks again.

Romans 8:14-21 

"¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

 ¹⁵ So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.  Now we call him, 'Abba, Father.'  

¹⁶ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.  

¹⁷ And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. 

¹⁸ Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 

¹⁹ For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.  

²⁰ Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope,  

²¹ the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay."